Davao RTC orders Matobato’s arrest
MANILA – A regional trial court (RTC) in Davao ordered the arrest of self- confessed “Davao Death Squad” (DDS) member Edgar Matobato in relation to the 2000 abduction of suspected terrorist Salih Muck Doom.
Judge Dorothy Gonzaga of the Panabo City Regional Trial Court 11th Judicial Region Branch 4 issued the warrant of arrest against Matobato and his co-accused Sonny Custodio.
No bail was recommended on both Matobato and Custodio. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed the kidnapping charges against the suspects last January.
Matobato himself admitted during a Senate investigation
in September last year that the DDS killed Makdum, whom he said they abducted from Samal on the orders of the then Davao City mayor, now President Rodrigo Duterte.
This marks the second case filed against Matobato after posting bail for the frustrated murder charge that was filed for his attempt to kill Department of Agriculture ( DA) adjudicator Abeto Salcedo Jr. in Digos City, Davao del Sur on October 2014.
Matobato, who is under the custody of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, first appeared publicly in a Senate inquiry, tagging Duterte to hundreds of murders of alleged criminals and political foes perpetuated by the DDS./