Palace: Lascañas’ claims ‘part of a larger noise’

Malacañang on Tuesday downplayed the claims of confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) leader retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas tagging President Rodrigo Duterte in vigilante killings in his hometown as merely “part of a larger noise that is arising.”

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Lascañas, who resurfaced on Monday at the Senate and retracted his previous testimony on the infamous DDS, was “rather discredited” for flip-flopping on his statements.

READ: Palace: DDS leader’s claim part of political drama vs Duterte

“Based on how he has performed as witness, he seemed rather discredited. In 2015 he denied certain things, in 2017 he flip flops. It puts everything he says in doubtful light at this stage,” Abella said.

Abella said the Palace and the President himself were not inclined to respond to Lascañas’ allegations unless brought to the proper court.

“The situation is such that the testimony of the man is in a context where there seems to be a lot of other noise. We would not be responding to those allegations. If these are truly valid, it should be brought to the proper court not here,” he said.

“It’s not brushing aside, what we’re saying is it’s part of a larger noise,” Abella added.

On Monday, Lascañas echoed the testimony of another confessed DDS member Edgar Matobato and affirmed the existence of DDS. He said Duterte paid them by as much as P100,000 for every killing depending on the target.

READ: Davao cop says Duterte ordered killings, DDS real

Lascañas linked Duterte to the killing of Davao radio broadcaster Jun Pala and the bombing of a mosque, among others. RAM/rga