De Lima lawyer defends timing of ‘DDS’ leader’s confession

Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) chair, Jose Manuel Diokno, said his group’s presentation of former Davao City policeman SPO3 Arturo Lascañas on Monday merely coincided with the raffling of the drug cases of his client Sen. Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE

The lawyer of Sen. Leila de Lima on Monday said the timing of the press conference of the confessed leader of the “Davao Death Squad” (DDS) was just coincidental with the raffle of the drug charges against the senator at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC).

Lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno, De Lima’s counsel, was part of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) panel that presented Davao policeman SPO3 Arturo Lascañas before the media at the Senate.

“Sen. De Lima is just one of my clients and  Lascañas is another. Actually, hindi pa nga alam ni Sen. De Lima itong confession na ito,” Diokno said when asked about the timing of the confession.

In a turnaround from his earlier testimony at the Senate, Lascañas resurfaced on Monday and said the DDS was real.

READ: Davao cop says Duterte ordered killings, DDS real

Affirming the claims of another confessed DDS member Edgar Matobato,  Lascañas said Duterte personally ordered  killings in Davao City, including the death of broadcast journalist Jun Pala in 2003 and the bombings of several mosques.

He also confessed to being instrumental in the killing of his own brothers, who were supposedly involved in illegal drugs, upon the orders of Duterte. Diokno said Lascañas was set to elaborate on his testimony under oath.

De Lima is facing nonbailable drug charges filed by the Department of Justice, which she dismissed as false and railroaded. The senator said her legal team is preparing appropriate legal pleadings to prevent the issuance of a warrant of arrest.

The Muntinlupa RTC is expected to assign a judge who will decide whether to order De Lima’s arrest. CBB/rga

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