Robredo: Lascañas’ confession can’t be brushed aside by denials
With SPO3 Arturo Lascañas corroborating the testimony of hitman Edgar Matobato linking President Rodrigo Duterte to the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS), Vice President Leni Robredo said the then Davao mayor’s alleged involvement in the killings there cannot just be “brushed aside by mere denials.”
“The Lascañas confession corroborating the earlier testimony of Edgar Matobato on the existence and operations of the Davao Death Squad is a matter for great alarm and concern,” Robredo said in a statement on Thursday.
“The imputation of such monstrous crimes to the President is unprecedented in its gravity, and can no longer be brushed aside by mere denials,” Robredo said.
Last Monday, the former Davao cop said the DDS was real and that Duterte controlled and paid hitmen to kill several persons in the province. This was a turnaround from Lascañas’ statement in the Senate hearing last year where he denied the existence of the death squad.
READ: Davao cop says Duterte ordered killings, DDS real
Robredo said his claims, which supported that of his fellow DDS member Matobato, should be taken seriously.
“Accusations of bribery to media and ouster plots can no longer work and the fact that both witnesses have come forward to accuse the most powerful man in the country, possibly at great risk to themselves, requires that their claims be taken seriously and be given careful consideration,” she said.
READ: Palace: Lascañas’ claims ‘part of a larger noise’
Robredo then urged Duterte and his administration to cooperate with the Senate in investigating the allegations of Lascañas and Matobato.
“A thorough, independent, and credible investigation by the Senate into these charges must be promptly pursued, with the full support and cooperation of the President and his administration,” she said.
“We urge the public to remain vigilant in the face of these alarming developments. We must unequivocally demonstrate that we are still a nation governed by the rule of law and that we will exhaust all efforts to arrive at the truth,” she added. CDG/rga
