Duterte camp denies death squad link insinuations

The camp of incoming president Rodrigo Duterte has denied insinuations linking him to the so-called Davao death squad.

Vitaliano Aguirre II, head of Duterte’s legal team, told The STAR the allegation is an “old issue that has never been proven.”

“There was no evidence ever found, only baseless allegations,” he said. “That’s why there was never any case filed in court against him.”

Aguirre said a supposed gravesite of victims of extrajudicial killings that the Commission on Human Rights had identified turned out to be a gravesite for victims of atrocities during the Japanese occupation.

“They were claiming about a supposed witness, but where is that witness?” he asked.

“Is there really a witness? Because if that’s the case, there should be a development already.”

Last year, the Department of Justice revived the issue against Duterte, but no development has since occurred, he added.

Aguirre, who is reportedly being eyed as secretary of justice in the incoming administration, echoed Duterte’s statement that he could have not been involved in extrajudicial killings since he knows the law, being a lawyer himself.

Last year, Duterte reportedly admitted putting up the Davao death squad only to deny later on that he was referring to it.

He has clarified his statement, saying he was only replying to a question in jest and that he was pertaining to the Davao Development System.

Then justice secretary Leila de Lima at the time announced that the National Bureau of Investigation was investigating the death squad, and that an eyewitness had surfaced to prove its existence.

Duterte and De Lima subsequently engaged in a word war.

De Lima, who is also set to be proclaimed senator, said she only hopes the presumptive president would veer away from his reputation as violator of laws and human rights as demonstrated by threats on criminals and plan to abolish Congress that he issued during the campaign.

“I am hoping that contrary to the words he spoke during the campaign, he would uphold the Constitution, the rule of law and human rights in his presidency,” she said.

Duterte has already offered the hand of reconciliation as he called for “healing” among his rivals in the polls.

Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has recognized the efforts of the Philippines to promote human rights.

The ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights and the Association for the Prevention of Torture have hailed the Philippines’ anti-torture campaign as a model, according to Interior Undersecretary Peter Irving Corvera, who headed the Philippine delegation to the 57th session of the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva.

“The Philippines sees every opportunity to evaluate its human rights record as an opportunity for improvement,” he said. Corvera said he is proud of the government’s latest achievement because it addresses the torture and illtreatment incidents with seriousness and firm resolve through its legal and institutional mechanisms.

The Philippines adheres to the principle of inclusive participation in human rights promotion and protection, particularly as regards the antitorture campaign, he added.

In the 3rd periodic report of the Philippines, the government’s efforts were highlighted in implementing the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which include the country’s Anti-Torture Campaign, the creation of an interagency committee monitoring the status of human rights violations including cases of torture, and the crafting of Philippine Human Rights Action Plan for 2012- 2017.