Malacañang on Thursday laughed off the claims of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV that a death squad composed of active police officers was organized under the Duterte administration.
In a weekly forum in the Senate, Trillanes said a so-called “Philippine Death Squad” was organized to carry out the extrajudicial killings under the present administration.
The senator said the group of Supt. Marvin Marcos, one of the policemen charged in the killing of former Albuera mayor Rolando Espinosa Jr., was behind the death squad that operates in the country.
READ: Trillanes: Supt. Marcos, PNP cohorts form Duterte’s ‘death squad’
“You know, he seems to be really [giving in] to his huge fantasies,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella told reporters in a Palace briefing.
Abella also dismissed the claim of Trillanes that Duterte was behind the downgrading of criminal charges against Marcos and the police officers involved in the killing of Espinosa and a fellow inmate.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has downgraded from murder to homicide the case against the police officers.
READ: Case vs cops in Espinosa slay downgraded to homicide
Abella borrowed the words of BBC anchor Stephen Sackur who earlier interviewed Trillanes and said the senator’s comments were “out of tune.”
“All right, maybe it’s best to summarize this Senator Trillanes with the interview he did with BBC—when he said that the senator seemed out of tune and not reflective of the times,” he said. IDL/rga
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