‘DDS’ leader: Duterte ordered bombing of mosques

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV (left) listens to SPO3 Arturo Lascañas as the former Davao City policeman faces the media and claimed the existence of the Davao Death Squad during a press conference at the Senate on Monday, Feb. 20, 2017. INQUIRER FILE / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte paid members of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) P300,000 after the group bombed several mosques in the province in 1993 upon his orders, a former Davao policeman claimed on Monday.

SPO3 Arturo Lascañas, who claimed to be one of the leaders of the DDS, said he was confirming Edgardo Matobato’s testimony at the Senate that it was the then Davao mayor who ordered the bombing of the mosques.

READ: Duterte ordered us to bomb mosque—DDS member

Matobato, who also claimed to be a DDS member, was a key witness in the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs’ investigation into the so-called extrajudicial killings in the country.

The Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs branded Matobato’s claims as “full of inconsistencies and contradictions” and recommended that he be charged with perjury.

READ: Senate panel recommends perjury, murder raps vs Matobato

“Yung sinabi ni Edgar Matobato noon sa Senado, yun pong bombing ng mga Muslim mosques, ito po ay totoo. Isa po ako sa inutusan ni Mayor Rody Duterte, personal…” Lascañas said.

“Noong nangyari po ang pagbomba sa San Pedro Cathedral, kung hindi ako nagkamali, pumunta si Mayor Rody sa opisina ng Anti-Crime Group at dahil kami po ang core group, kami na po ang personal na inutusan n’ya na gumanti sa pagbomba ng San Pedro Cathedral sa pamamagitan ng pagbomba sa mga Muslim mosques,” he said.

Lascañas said the DDS was divided into three groups and his group was assigned to bomb a mosque along the diversion road of Davao City.

Matobato’s group, he said, was assigned to another area.

While it appears that Lacañas was referring to at least two mosque bombings, records show only one mosque bombing incident after the San Pedro Cathedral was bombed in 1993.

READ: ‘Not possible,’ Palace on Duterte ordering mosque bombing

The retired cop said the bombing operations were only halted for fear of a possible Senate inquiry after former Senator Aqulino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. said that there was already anarchy in the province.

“For several days, binigyan kami ni Major Macasaet ng P200,000. Ang sabi n’ya merong pinadala si Mayor Rody na P300,000. Sa amin ang P200,000, kanya ang P100,000,” Lascañas said.

Macasaet, he said, was also part of DDS. CBB/rga