Leni backs probe of Davao hit man’s claim

Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo YUJI VINCENT GONZALES/INQUIRER.net

The country’s second highest official on Thursday said allegations by confessed hit man Arturo Lascañas that President Duterte had directed and paid for the bloody rampage of the Davao Death Squad (DDS) was so serious that it must be investigated by the Senate with full support from the administration.

“The imputation of such monstrous crimes to the President is unprecedented in its gravity, and can no longer be brushed aside by mere denials,” Vice President Leni Robredo said in a statement.

“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,” the Vice President added.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella indicated Malacañang would not block a Senate inquiry.

“They can proceed,” Abella said.

He also said Lascañas’ allegations had not been discussed in a meeting of the President and several senators, including Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III.

Lascañas denied any role in the hit squad when he was linked to it by DDS whistle-blower Edgar Matobato during Senate hearings on extrajudicial killings in October last year.

Robredo said Lascañas’ confession, which corroborated Matobato’s testimony, was “a matter for great alarm and concern.”

Accusations that journalists had been bribed to cover Lascañas’ press conference and that his allegations were part of a plot to oust the President “can no longer work” to downplay the serious charges, Robredo said.

“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.

She urged 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,” Robredo said.

Though he may be derided by the Duterte administration and its allies, Lascañas had the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers standing solidly by him.

“I am satisfied with his story,” said Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, chair of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).

Diokno said Lascañas’ claim was subjected “to the same kind of evaluation” that FLAG gave to other cases it had handled. The allegations of the former policeman were brought to the attention of his group, which does not solicit cases.

Diokno said FLAG has always fought for the protection of human rights.

“Extrajudicial killings…are a grave issue as far as human rights is concerned. We have been consistent through all these years about fighting against any shortcuts to due process and to the law,” Diokno told the Inquirer on Wednesday.

“Our biggest concern about any kind of extrajudicial killings, especially if it is a practice sanctioned by the state, is that extrajudicial killings do not only kill people, it kills the legal system itself,” he said.

Diokno’s father and democracy icon, the late Sen. Jose “Ka Pepe” Diokno, and other eminent human rights champions like the late Senators Lorezon Tañada and Joker Arroyo founded FLAG in 1974  to provide legal assistance to those arrested or detained during martial law.

The elder Diokno had just been released from two years of detention without charges when he formed the group. He shared a prison compound with the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in Fort Bonifacio and Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.—WITH A REPORT FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA