Davao hit man heats up senators

Sen. Richard Gordon —JOSEPH VIDAL/PRIB

A Senate inquiry into the confession of a former leader of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) will proceed despite opposition from President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies.

A day after Mr. Duterte’s supporters lost a vote on the inquiry, Sen. Richard Gordon took the floor on Wednesday and insisted that the Senate should not be the venue for someone who had apparently lied to senators.

On Tuesday, 10 of 22 senators present voted for an inquiry to hear the testimony of retired SPO3 Arturo (not Arthur as previously reported) Lascañas, who disclosed during a news conference on Monday that he had been a hit man for the DDS, which he said was under the control and pay of Mr. Duterte when he was mayor of Davao City.

Lascañas’ public confession came four months after his testimony to Gordon’s justice committee denying the existence of the DDS and confessed hit man Edgar Matobato’s insistence that he was a member of the hit squad.

Lacson’s job

In the end, Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s committee on public order and dangerous drugs got the job of investigating Lascañas’ claims.

Lacson said he was now preparing for the inquiry.

“I’m coordinating with the office of the proponent, Sen. (Antonio) Trillanes, for the submission of Lascañas’ sworn statement and thereafter, find out who we will invite as resource persons then I will schedule a hearing,” he said in a text message.

Lacson said he would schedule the hearing in compliance with the three-day notice rule just as long he had a copy of Lascañas’ sworn statement.

Taking the floor, Gordon reminded the senators that Lascañas testified to his committee last year that Matobato’s testimony on the existence of the DDS was “all lies.”

“You come here and you lie, you get only one chance. You don’t get a second chance,” he said.

He added that he couldn’t care less that Lascañas was pointing a finger at President Duterte, but the former policeman should have done it last year.

“When he failed to do that, he lied to the Senate,” Gordon said.

He said Lascañas’ action was a slap not on him but on the Senate.

He repeatedly said that Lascañas should go to the Ombudsman instead.

Lascañas should be heard

Sen. Grace Poe disagreed with Gordon, saying the Senate  should hear Lascañas.

“Making (Lascañas) come here to speak is not for the benefit of this person … but is also for the benefit of those of us who would like to know what made him change his mind and why he is doing so,” Poe said on the floor.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the chamber was not powerless over those who lied and that it could punish liars “so that the Senate will not be lied to” again.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano stood up to insist that the justice committee should handle the Lascañas testimony, as it was the one that opened the inquiry into extrajudicial killings, something that Trillanes did not agree with.

Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III later moved for the rules committee to study Gordon’s speech and Cayetano’s insistence on a justice committee inquiry.

Malacañang pressure

Sen. Leila de Lima said there was pressure from Malacañang, which she described as in “panic mode,” on the Senate not to hear Lascañas.

De Lima said just like in the case of Matobato, President Duterte was “silent” after Lascañas’ confession.

“Because he knows it’s true,” she said of the President.

De Lima said the Palace apparently did not expect the outcome of the Senate vote on Tuesday, adding that the Palace was surprised at its loss.

“They were surprised that some of the senators, whom they expected to vote with them against the hearing on Lascañas, abstained instead. That’s why they are in panic mode,” she said.

The senators who voted for the inquiry were Bam Aquino, Franklin Drilon, Francis Escudero, Risa Hontiveros, Pangilinan, Trillanes, Ralph Recto, Sonny Angara, Joel Villanueva and De Lima.

Among those who voted against an inquiry were Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Emmanuel Pacquiao, Cynthia Villar, Sherwin Gatchalian, Gregorio Honasan II and Gordon.

Senators Loren Legarda, Nancy Binay, JV Ejercito, Sotto and Lacson abstained.

Poe and Cayetano were absent from the caucus where the vote was taken.

No Palace pressure

In a text message to the Inquirer, Sotto denied there was pressure from Malacañang.

He said he and two other senators met with Mr. Duterte on Tuesday night but the discussion was about the campaign against drugs.

“Lascañas was not even a highlight,” he said.

In a post on Twitter, Sotto said De Lima’s claim about pressure from the Palace was “absolutely false.”