‘Death squad’ cops to face Senate
The Philippine National Police ( PNP) is ready to present before an executive session of the Senate the police officers tagged as members of the Davao death squad (DDS) by a selfconfessed hit man.
In a press briefing yesterday, PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Dion- ardo Carlos said the Directorate for Personnel and Resource Management (DPRM) has contacted the police officers named by former DDS member Edgar Matobato as members of the group.
“They will be presented, they will be
asked to appear in the next inquiry and attend the executive session. The DPRM has already contacted and invited them for the next inquiry,” Carlos said.
The PNP official said they immediately checked the status of the personnel after Matobato mentioned them during his initial presentation before the Senate committee on justice and human rights then chaired by Sen. Leila de Lima.
Her colleagues would later oust De Lima and replace her with Sen. Richard Gordon.
De Lima also mentioned some of the names in a privilege speech she delivered the following day.
Carlos said at least 10 of the policemen mentioned are in active service – eight with the Davao police and two re-assigned to the Presidential Security Group. He said another eight have retired, while one has died.
One of those identified by Matobato in his testimony was a certain SPO4 Arthur Lascañas, described as head of the DDS by Matobato.
Other names floated include SPO4 Sanson Buenaventura; Chief Insps. Jacy Francia, Fulgencio Pavo and Ronald Lao; SPO3 Jim Tan, Jun Laresma and Donito Ubales; SPO2 Enrique de los Reyes Ayao; and SPO1 Reynante Medina, Bienvenido Furog, Vivencio Jumawan, Jun Bisnar and Gaston Aquino.
Also included were Senior Supts. Isidero Florivel/Florobel, Rey Capote, Tony Rivera and Dionisio Abude; and certain Bienvenido Laud, Alvin Laud, Roly Engalia and Arnold Ochavez.
PNP Internal Affairs Service legal affairs division acting chief Shella Castillo said they immediately looked into the allegations of Matobato against the police officers.
“We observe due process here (so we will verify by) conducting investigation whether the allegations are true or not. If it’s true we will file cases against those involved and if it’s not true we will drop and close the cases,” she added.
She admitted the task would be tough for the PNP-IAS as there are only 17 investigators handling over 800 cases involving police officers, including those involved in deaths of suspects during operations.
With the surge in the number of suspects killed in drug-related police operations, Castillo underscored the need for the PNP-IAS to hire more investigators to hasten the probe of administrative cases against erring police officers.
Under its mandate, the IAS is required to automatically investigate police involved in operations that resulted in death of suspects.
Castillo noted that from July 1 to Sept. 21, they have opened at least 575 automatic investigations.
Of the cases, she said 15 have been terminated and 98 dropped after investigators found no lapses in procedures.
In addition to the automatic investigations, the PNP-IAS also handles complaints against police officers, such as illegal arrest and firearms-related cases.
“To be candid, the investigators, they don’t sleep anymore,” she said.
Castillo maintained they need at least 30 more personnel at Camp Crame to help in handling the cases.
“There is really lack of mobility and personnel, but we’re holding on because it’s our mandate,” she added.
Credibility intact
Meanwhile, Sens. Antonio Trillanes IV and De Lima maintained Matobato has proven his credibility despite being rebuffed by some of their colleagues on his testimonies on extrajudicial killings before the Senate committee on human rights.
Sens. Richard Gordon, Alan Peter Cayetano and Panfilo Lacson said they noticed inconsistencies in Matobato’s testimony.
According to Trillanes, one thing his colleagues were able to prove with their questioning of Matobato was that they were smarter than a first grader.
“Despite the badgering, Matobato was consistent about the events and other details he was sure about. But I must admit, there was a language barrier and a few of my colleagues took advantage of that. Napakita nila na mas magaling sila sa grade one,” Trillanes said.
In his testimonies at the Senate, Matobato said he was uneducated, having attended only one year in school when he was a child.
“Matobato is a very credible witness. No matter how many times he tells his story, the significant and major details of the facts as he remembers them remain consistent. That is the mark of a true witness,” said De Lima, who is a lawyer.
De Lima said that it was normal for witnesses to forget some small details in narration, which she said only proved that Matobato was not coached as alleged by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.
“A witness who remembers everything perfectly without confusion or mistakes is most probably the coached and rehearsed witness, like those criminal convicts now testifying against me in the House. Compared to them, Matobato is candid and straightforward even under grueling and uninhibited cross-examination, at times with misleading questions that are not even allowed to be asked in a court of law,” she said.
Condescending
De Lima lamented her colleagues were condescending in their questioning of Matobato.
She also criticized Cayetano for the way he kept on butting in whenever Matobato was presenting some details in his story, as if he was in a courtroom.
“This is a classic style in cross-examination. When the witness is already providing so much information that is bolstering his credibility, cut him off and ask a different question,” De Lima said.
“That’s what Cayetano was doing because he could not debunk the essence of Matobato’s testimony that Duterte was behind the DDS,” she said.
On the other hand, Lacson said the credibility of Matobato was questionable because of his constant flip-flopping on several material points, such as the manner of killing people.
Lacson said the witness’ claim that he had never executed an affidavit about the DDS would turn out to be untrue.
He cited a specific portion of Matobato’s testimony, which has been refuted by one of the persons he had named.
Lacson recalled the claim of Matobato that the DDS was ordered by President Duterte, when he was still mayor of Davao City, to kill the bodyguards of former speaker Prospero Nograles, who were the men of generals Jovito Palparan and Eduardo Matillano.
“Gen. Matillano later texted me to flatly reject Matobato’s testimony that he had people detailed with Nograles since starting 2009, he was already detailed with the Presidential AntiSmuggling Group, and that unit wasn’t assigning people outside their unit,” Lacson said.
“Also, Matobato could not make up his mind if he was indeed ordered by then mayor Duterte to kill several people or not. Indeed, when one is stating the truth, there is no way he can forget. On the other hand, a coached or a lying witness forgets his narration of events and circumstances over a certain period of time,” he added.