VP Duterte: No plans to file cases vs ex-DDS gunman amid murder accusation

Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio (Photo from her Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte said she has no plans to file cases against a retired police officer who accused her of being involved in the Davao Death Squad (DDS) and the bloody “Oplan Tokhang” anti-drug operation.

READ: Ex-cop links Duterte siblings Paolo and Sara to ‘drug war’ dirt

Duterte, however, reiterated that she is challenging retired police officer Arturo Lascañas to file a case of murder against her in Philippine courts.

“I have no intention of filing a case against him. In fact, I’m challenging him to file a murder case against me in the Philippines,” Duterte told reporters in Filipino in a chance interview on Tuesday on the sidelines of her visit to the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) in Malaysia.

Lascañas, who admitted once being a DDS gunman, accused Duterte of being the brains behind the brutal “Oplan Tokhang” in Davao City.

The DDS was an alleged vigilante group believed to be behind the spate of killings of suspected drug traffickers and other criminals in Davao City.

Meanwhile, “Oplan Tokhang” — coined from the Visayan word “toktok” (knock) and “hangyo” (persuade) — is a strategy that directed law enforcers to seek out drug personalities, resulting in the death of thousands of drug suspects, most of whom were poor drug pushers who law enforcers claimed to have “nanlaban” or tried to fight back.

But Duterte previously denied such involvement, dismissing the allegations as a “new script” against her.

READ: Sara Duterte on her alleged link to Oplan Tokhang: ‘This is a new script’

Meanwhile, when asked about her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, regarding the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigation into his administration’s bloody war against drugs and a supposed warrant of arrest set to be issued soon, the vice president responded that she would yet have to talk to her father about it.

“[Former] President Duterte and I haven’t discussed the ICC. I’m sure he has lawyers advising him, given his background as a lawyer himself. Therefore, he understands the legal implications and procedures involved with the ICC,” the vice president said.

Duterte said she herself wasn’t concerned about the ICC warrant based on the legal advice of her lawyers.