'Demolition job'

Palace says of SPO3 Lascañas

MALACAÑANG on Monday dismissed as a mere “demolition job” the claim of a former Davao policeman that President Rodrigo Duterte was indeed connected to the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS).

“The demolition job against President Duterte continues,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement.

Andanar’s statement came former Senior Police Officer 3 (SPO3) Arturo “Arthur” Lascañas, who retired from the Philippine National Police in December last year, told a press conference that the DDS really exists.

Lascañas, who was presented by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV at the Senate on early Monday, said that the members of the supposed death squad were paid by Duterte, a former mayor of Davao City, from P20,000 up to P100,000 depending on their target.

“The existence of Davao Death Squad or DDS is real,” Lascañas said. “Mayor Duterte was paying us P20,000 sometimes, or P50,000, and it depends on the status of our target. Sometimes, it’s P100,000. I am receiving the allowance from the Office of the Mayor [at the rate of] P100,000.

At a Senate inquiry

last year, Lascañas denied the existence of the DDS, calling it merely as a “media hype.”

But Lascañas said he revealed the truth because of conscience.

Andanar, however, shrugged off the latest allegation hurdled against the President and stressed it was just “part of a protracted political drama aimed to destroy the President and to topple his administration.”

He cited that the Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Senate Committee already absolved Duterte in his alleged involvement in the DDS.

“Our people are aware that this character assassination is nothing but vicious politics orchestrated by sectors affected by the reforms initiated by the Duterte administration,” Andanar said. (SunStar Philippines)