Lascañas says sorry for lying to Senate

Retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas apologized to the Senate on Monday for lying when he first appeared in a hearing last year, saying he was just told by another retired police officer to “deny everything” he knows about the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS).

“First, I’d like to ask for an apology and understanding of what I had said when I was invited (by) this honorable committee,” Lascañas told the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.

He said he denied all the allegations of self-proclaimed assassin Edgar Matobato during the October 3, 2016, hearing of the Senate committee on justice and human rights not only because he feared for the lives of his loved ones but because retired SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura had told him to deny everything.

“When we were here, my companions and my core group, especially retired SP04 Sonny Buenaventura… and the rest were with me. And one Superintendent Antonio Rivera advised me not to attend the hearing,” Lascañas said.

But he said he told Rivera that the Senate might issue a warrant of arrest against him.

Lascañas said Buenaventura then to told him to deny his knowledge about the DDS if he would be forced to testify in the Senate.

“If ever you are forced to present yourself, deny everything. That’s the instruction of SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura and I said: “Yes of course,’” he said.

So when he appeared in the October 3 hearing of the justice committee on alleged extrajudicial killings in the country, Lascañas denied the existence of the DDS.

But at a press conference last February 20, Lascañas recanted his testimony and claimed that the DDS was real and was paid by then Davao City Mayor Duterte to kill criminals and enemies.

Lascañas said he recanted his testimony because he wanted to tell the truth for fear of God and to clear his conscience. CBB/rga

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