Lascañas: Paolo Duterte stopped arrest of drug suspect in 2014
Confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) leader retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas on Monday said Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, son of President Rodrigo Duterte, prevented the arrest of a drug suspect in 2014.
In his testimony at the hearing of the Senate committee on public order, Lascañas said the younger Duterte asked his help to intercept the van of a certain Charlie Tan as there were packs of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” in there.
“Ang sabi niya sa ‘kin, ‘pag dumating ang ‘yung sa Davao, escortan mo ang van, ipa-deliver natin sa isang barangay hall at pag-open, kung may laman, hulihin si Charlie Tan (He said to me, “When it arrives in Davao, escort the van, let’s deliver to a village hall and if it yields [illegal drugs], then arrest Charlie Tan),” Lascañas said.
But when Tan’s vehicle arrived, Lascañas said Paolo retracted his order.
“Bago ako makarating, sabi niya sa ‘kin arbor ko na lang, bro. Ako na lang bahala kay Charlie. Dito ako nagkaroon ng maraming iniisip (Before I arrived in the area, he told me that he would take care of Charlie. It was then that I had many thoughts),” ,” he added.
Lascañas said Paolo’s retraction prompted him to cut their communication to and cast doubt on the credibility of then Mayor Duterte’s antinarcotics campaign.
“Pwede pa lang mamili, samantalang ako nakalubog ang dalawang paa ko sa impyerno dahil sa pag enforce ng campaign ni Mayor Rody against illegal drugs (I never thought one could select drug suspects while my both feet were thrown into hell due to enforcing Mayor Rody’s campaign),” he said.
“Siguro kung hindi ako gumawa ng mga maling judgment sa mga kapatid ko, siguro buhay pa ngayon, nakakulong lang (Perhaps if I didn’t make a wrong judgment on my own brothers, they are alive and just in jail),” he added, referring to his hand in the killing of his own brothers, who were supposedly involved in illegal drugs. RAM/rga
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