Ex-policeman says he killed 200 people in Duterte’s death squad

Arturo Lascanas said he had personally killed 300 people, about 200 as a member of a “Davao death squad”, with his last in 2015.

Retired policeman Arturo Lascanas testifies at the Philippine senate inquiry into alleged extrajudicial killings linked to president Rodrigo Duterte. Erik De Castro / Reuters

MANILA // A retired policeman testified before a Philippine senate hearing on Monday to killing about 200 people as part of a “death squad” under Rodrigo Duterte when the president was Davao City mayor.

Arturo Lascanas admitted to lying in October during a senate inquiry into alleged extrajudicial killings linked to Mr Duterte, but said he did so only because he feared for his family’s safety and because police had warned him to “deny everything”.

He said he came clean because of his “fear of God”.

Mr Lascanas said he had personally killed 300 people, about 200 as a member of a “Davao death squad”, with his last in 2015. He also detailed two cases where he had murdered critics of Mr Duterte, under the instruction of the then-mayor’s bodyguard.

Mr Lascanas, who broke down in tears when he revealed his story two weeks ago, is the second person to testify before senators to Mr Duterte’s alleged links to a clandestine hit squad.

The president’s allies dismiss the claims as a plot by his opponents to discredit a popular leader and his war on drugs, a campaign that critics say has disturbing similarities to a pattern of killings in Davao.

“I feared for the life of my loved ones,” Mr Lascanas said when asked why he had earlier denied the death squad existed.

He said he changed testimony because he was tormented by what he had done and wanted the truth to “set me free”.

It was “because of my desire to tell all the truth, not only because of my spiritual renewal, but the fear of God, I wanted to clear my conscience”, he said.

Mr Duterte has repeatedly denied involvement in killings, either as president or during his 22 years as Davao mayor. His police chief Ronald dela Rosa, a former Davao police chief under Mr Duterte, has dismissed the death squad claims as a myth created by the media.

Human rights groups have documented about 1,400 suspicious killings in Davao while Mr Duterte was mayor, and critics say the war on drugs he unleashed as president has the same hallmarks. Numerous investigations have found no proof linking Mr Duterte to those deaths.

More than 8,000 people have been killed nationwide since Mr Duterte took office eight months ago, mostly drug users killed by gunmen in incidents authorities attribute to vigilantes, drugs gang members silencing informants, or unrelated murders.

Police reject activists’ allegations that they are behind most of those killings. Police say they were responsible for 2,555 of those cases, when drug suspects had resisted arrest.

On Monday, Mr dela Rosa announced the re-launch of police anti-narcotics operations after a month-long suspension of police involvement in the campaign.

* Reuters