Not only President Rodrigo Duterte but also his son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, was also behind the killings of some people in the province, including billionaire businessman Richard King, a confessed assassin alleged on Thursday.
Edgar Matobato, who claimed to be a member of the Davao Death Squad, said the vice mayor ordered the killing of the businessman in 2014 because of a woman.
“Pinatay si Richard King doon sa Davao City. Ang nag-utos nyan si Paolo Duterte ang nag utos-nyan (Richard King was killed in Davao City. It was Paolo Duterte who ordered it),” Matobato said during the joint hearing of the Senate committees on justice and human rights, and public order.
“Ito si Paolo Duterte nagra-rival sila ni Richard King sa babae. Yung may-ari ng McDonalds, si Ochoa. Hindi ko alam ang pangalan Ma’am pero ang apelyido Ochoa,” he said.
(Paolo Duterte and Richard King were rivals when it came to women. The owner of McDonald’s, Ochoa. I don’t know the first name, Ma’am, but the surname is Ochoa.)
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Matobato said his two companions, who are rebel returnees, were paid P500, 000 to kill the businessman. The rebel returnees, he said, were also “double-crossed” by the police.
Aside from King, Matobato said the vice mayor also ordered the killing of at least two more people in Davao.
“Meron kaming operation na inutos ni Paolo Duterte na Vice Mayor na (patayin) yung kagalit lang nya…” he said.
(We had an operation where Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte ordered his enemies killed.)
This time, Matobato said, he was one of the two hired assassins who killed the vice mayor’s enemy.
“Pinasok namin sa bahay doon sila naglalaro ng tong-its, baraha,” he said.
(We went in the house, they were playing tong-its, cards.)
He said the vice mayor also ordered the killing of another person at a gasoline station.
“Meron pa syang inutusan Ma’am. Yung kagalit naman nya sa gasoline station,” Matobato said.
“Nagalit lang sya, tumawag sa amin. Pinapatay sa amin yung isang tao dun. Hindi namin alam kung ano ang dahilan. Parang nag overtake sa pagpatubig ng sasakyan. Nagkagalit sila,” he added.
(He also ordered another killed, his enemy at the gasoline station.
He just got upset, he called us up. He ordered us to kill a person there. We don’t know the reason behind it. The person seemed to have overtaken him in the queue for water. He got mad.)
Asked how they killed the second victim, Matobato said: “Sinalvage namin (We ‘salvaged’ him)…” CDG/rga
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