MANILA, Philippines — A retired police officer wracked with guilt over the murders of two of his own brothers has reversed himself and confessed to leading the Philippine death squad that killed them, saying that he was acting on the direct orders of Rodrigo Duterte before he became president.
MANILA, Philippines — A retired police officer wracked with guilt over the murders of two of his own brothers has reversed himself and confessed to leading the Philippine death squad that killed them, saying that he was acting on the direct orders of Rodrigo Duterte before he became president.
The former officer, Arthur Lascañas, said at a news conference Monday that Duterte had sponsored the killings of drug and crime suspects while he was mayor of the southern city of Davao. Lascañas has now become the second professed hit man to level such accusations against Duterte.
At least 3,600 people, and possibly thousands more, have been killed by police or vigilantes since Duterte became president in June. Rights groups have said that the police may have ordered the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers and users, a charge that officials have denied. Duterte’s spokesman, Martin Andanar, on Monday dismissed Lascañas’ allegations as “part of a protracted political drama” intended to undermine the president’s leadership.
Lascañas, 56, said that he was the leader of the Davao Death Squad, a group that he said Duterte had formed to go after small-time drug dealers and petty criminals but that later evolved into a force to eliminate political opponents.
He is the second person claiming membership in the squad to speak out against Duterte, bolstering the explosive testimony of another professed hit man, Edgar Matobato, who has been in hiding since last year, when he linked the president to the killings. On Monday, Lascañas broke down in tears and said Matobato’s accusations were true.
“We started the salvaging of people when Mayor Duterte first sat down as mayor in Davao City,” he said. “The people we targeted are criminals and were into illegal drugs. We were implementing the personal orders of Duterte.”
“Salvaging” is a euphemism in the Philippines for summary executions.
Lascañas said members of the squad were usually paid $400 to $1,000 for the killings “depending on the status” of the target.
“All the killings that we committed in Davao City, whether they were buried or thrown in the sea, were paid for by Mayor Duterte,” he said.
Lascañas said that he received an allowance directly from Duterte’s office and that he had led the group for a long time. He said his earlier testimony, made before the Senate last year, was “all lies.”
He said that two of his brothers — whom he identified as Cecilio and Fernando — were among the group’s victims and that he had concealed the details surrounding their deaths from the family until Monday.
“They were involved in illegal drugs,” Lascañas said. “Now my nephews know that I was instrumental to the murders. In my belief about the campaign, I had committed this.”
He also confirmed Matobato’s earlier statement linking Duterte to the murder of Jun Pala, a radio commentator critical of the former mayor and a known supporter of a vigilante group in Davao guarding against communist guerrillas. Lascañas said he was paid about $60,000 to get rid of him.
“We planned and carried out the assassination of Jun Pala,” he said. After Pala survived an ambush, Lascañas said, he met with Duterte, who told him to take his time in killing the broadcaster.
Pala was shot by gunmen near his home in 2003, in a killing that the police attributed to a communist rebel hit squad.
“This is the real truth in the Pala murder case,” Lascañas said. “I am one of those who murdered him.”
Lascañas also said that he and other members of the squad killed a kidnapping suspect, his pregnant wife, his father-in-law and two servants. He said the victims were seized and taken to a quarry, where they were gunned down.
Andanar, the president’s spokesman, said in his statement Monday: “Our people are aware that this character assassination is nothing but vicious politics orchestrated by sectors affected by the reforms initiated by the Duterte administration.”
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