PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte formed the Davao Death Squad when he was Davao City mayor and paid up to P100,000 depending on the status of the target he ordered executed, a retired policeman and self-confessed hitman said Monday.
At a news conference organized by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, SPO3 Arthur Lascañas retracted his testimony before the Senate in October 2016, in which he denied the existence of the DDS.
At the time, he also disputed the testimony of Edgardo Matobato, who testified that Lascañas was his team leader in the DDS and that he was Duterte’s “right hand.”
But at Monday’s press conference, Lascañas sang a different tune.
“The existence of Davao Death Squad or DDS is real,” he said. “He [Matobato] was our member and I was one of its leaders. We are being paid here by Mayor Duterte, oftentimes, P20,000 or P50,000 and depending on the staus of the target, sometimes P100,000. I even received [an] allowance from office of the mayor—P100,000.
Accompanied by lawyers Jose Manuel Diokno, La Salle Law Dean Alexander Padilla and Arno Sanidad of the Free Legal Assistance Group, Lascañas also said Duterte spent as much as P4 million for the killing of radio broadcaster Jun Pala in 2003.
He said he was hired by Duterte, through the latter’s trusted aide SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura, to assassinate Pala, a broadcaster of Davao-based radio dxGO who was critical of Duterte. He was offered P3 million as reward, Lascañas said. P500,000 was set aside for operational funds.
“Sonny said Mayor Rody was very angry at Jun Pala because he attacked him (Duterte) on radio everyday,” said Lascañas. He remembered planning the murder, together with a certain SPO1 Jim Tan, who tapped “players” or hitmen to help in the murder.
He said they ambushed Pala on two occasions, but the latter survived both instances.
Lascañas said they paid Pala’s part-time bodyguard Jerry Trocio P350,000 to help provide them with information. They finally killed Pala in a card game.
“In short, Jun Pala was killed two days after Mayor Duterte paid us P3 million through SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura,” Lascañas said. He said the money was divided among those who planned the murder.
Lascañas said Duterte gave him a P1-million bonus for killing Pala on Sept. 6, 2003.
“This is the whole truth in Pala murder case. This is now considered solved. I am one of those who killed Jun Pala,” he said.
In September last year, Matobato claimed Duterte ordered Pala killed and one Jun Ayao was behind the killing, reportedly upon the orders of Duterte.
But during another Senate hearing in October, SPO3 Enrique “Jun” delos Reyes Ayao denied Matobato’s testimony.
Lascañas also said Duterte was behind the murder of a religious leader, Jun Barsabal, in 1993.
Barsabal, who was arrested in Samal island, was ordered killed for grabbing and squatting on lands in Davao. Matobato had claimed that five mayors, including Duterte, “plotted” the operation to kill Barsabal.
Lascañas said they were told by Duterte in Bisaya to kill Barsabal.
The former police officer said he and other Davao cops were investigated for the murder and were grilled about it by the Commission on Human Rights, which was then headed by Senator Leila de Lima. But they were assured by Duterte that the investigation would not prosper.
He also said Duterte ordered the bombing of a mosque in 1993 and the killing of Muslims in retaliation for the bombing of the Davao Cathedral in the same year.
He said the former mayor later ordered them to arrest and kill the Muslim suspects.
Lascañas, who turned emotional, then admitted having a hand in the killing of his own brothers—Cecilio and Fernando, who were both involved in illegal drugs.
Sanidad said Lascañas has executed an affidavit and is ready to testify before any government agency, including the Senate.
Diokno said FLAG will provide him legal assistance.
“When he appears under oath before the proper bodies, you will be in a position to assess whether he’s telling the truth or not,” he said.
He said they believe Lascañas is credible. Otherwise, he added, they would not be defending him.
Meanwhile, Lascañas appealed to his fellow policemen, saying that killing is not the solution to crime.
“Whether I die or get killed, I’m content with the thought that I have fulfilled my promise to God to make a public confession,” he said.