AFP: Accuser Matobato, terrorist Sali Makdum not on record

Witness Edgar Matobato during the Senate probe on the alleged extrajudicial killings at the Senate in Pasay City.
INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has no records of ‘Sali Makdum,’ an international terrorist supposedly killed on orders of President Rodrigo Duterte in early 2000.

“I have just consulted with our personnel and office in charge of files like these, ayon sa kanilang records walang pangalang Sali Makdum sa sinasabing terorista na nasa ating records sa Pilipinas or sa Armed Forces (according to records of the Armed Forces, there is no terrorist named Sali Makdum in the Philippines),” AFP public affairs chief Colonel Edgard Arevalo told reporters on Friday.

A confessed hit man, Edgar Matobato, claimed at a Senate hearing on Thursday that he was a former member of the Davao Death Squad and accused Duterte, then mayor of Davao City, of ordering the killing of suspected criminals.

LIST: ‘DDS member’ bares alleged Duterte-ordered killings

Among the people they supposedly killed was international terrorist Salik Makdum, whom they abducted from Samal Island in 2002.

Matobato claimed that they presented Makdum to then-Davao police head Ronald dela Rosa, who is now the director of the Philippine National Police. They later killed Makdum and then buried him in a quarry owned by a policeman.

“You can make your own conclusion. Basta ang sasabihin ko lang, base sa ating records walang ganon pangalan sa listahan ng mga terorista (All I can say is that based on our records, there is no one named like that on our list of terrorists),” Arevalo said.

The self-confessed killer also claimed to be a former militiaman in Davao, which the military denied.

“Based on the records of the Philippine Army, there is no Edgar Matobato in their records whether as a regular Army personnel or a member of the CAFGU. Wala silang ganong pangalan sa kanilang (They did not find his name on their) records based on their check,” Arevalo said. IDL/rga