Aguirre: NBI probing Lascañas claims on DDS, Duterte

Retired SPO3 Arturo Lascañas. POCHOLO CONCEPCION/INQUIRER

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is already investigating the claims of retired policeman Arthur Lascañas, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Tuesday.

Lascañas, in a testimony before the Senate, admitted being the leader of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), which killed around 200 people.

He also linked President Duterte, when he was mayor of Davao City, to hundreds of extrajudicial killings in a local anti-drug crackdown.

He has said that he is ready to testify in international courts and help authorities gather evidence of the slayings he says he and other assassins carried out.

The retired police officer recently told The Associated Press in an interview that the campaign he and others allegedly conducted on orders of Duterte was “95 percent” similar to the current bloody anti-drug crackdown in the country.

On Saturday, he and his family left for Singapore.

Aguirre said Lascañas has no pending case for now, which is why the Bureau of Immigration (BI) allowed him to leave the country.

“Most probably that is what he fears (government filing a case against him)…These [claims he made at the Senate] are being investigated [by the NBI],” Aguirre said.

Lascañas left the Philippines with his family on Tiger Airways flight 2703 to Singapore last April 8. He has a return ticket dated April 22.

“Let us see if he will return,” said Aguirre./rga

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