(Eagle News) – Senator Richard Gordon has rejected calls to reopen the investigation on the new allegations of retired SPO3 Arthur Lascañas regarding the existence of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), and his claim that President Rodrigo DUterte was involved in the alleged Davao killings.
Gordon said he is doubtful of Lascañas’ turnaround, and new claims.
The senator said that the senate felt “insulted” since he took an oath when he first testified before the Senate in October last year where he insisted that the Davao Death Squad was nothing but a product of “media hype.”
“Mahirap, parang inunsulto na ang Senado, you took an oath and then you lied to us,” he said of Lascañas.
“Then if we ask you the same questions that we asked, paano ka naming pagtitiwalaan? Unang una nagsinugaling ka na. Eh ngayon ba, hindi ka na ba nagsisinungaling?” Gordon said of Lascanas in a TV interview.
He said that for him, the Senate justice committee investigation on the Davao Death Squad is already finished.
“So to me, tapos na yung aming imbestigasyon, if other people want to investigate it, that’s their own lookout. Kung publicity lang ang hinahanap natin, madaling sakyan ang issue. But I am not the type,” he said.
Gordon, chairman of the justice panel, had earlier came out with a committee report which said that the recent spate of drug-related killings are not state-sponsored. He had said then that there was no proof to support the claim of witness Edgar Matobato that the death squad existed.
Lascanas during the press conference confessed to a litany of brutal crimes allegedly ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte when he was the mayor of the southern city of Davao. The crimes range from the murder of a Duterte opponent to the bombing of a mosque. He testified in the senate last October, but at that time denied the allegations. / AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE
But on Monday, Lascañas made a compete turnaround in a press conference at the Senate where he was presented by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a known Duterte critic.
Along with him are lawyers from the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) Arno Sanidad, Jose Manuel Diokno and Alexander Padilla who claimed that Lascañas’ new story can be grounds for the impeachment of President Duterte.
The three are known veteran human rights lawyers.
Trillanes had already made a motion to refer Lascañas’ new revelations to the Senate public order committee chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson.
But Lacson said that because of Lascañas’ flip-flopping testimonies, he could be charged with perjury. He admitted that Lascañas’ credibility is also in question because of what happened.
-Gordon questions timing of Lascanas’ presscon
Gordon also questioned the timing of Lascanas’ presscon on the day of the raffle of the three drug cases filed by the Department of Justice against Senator Leila De Lima on Monday.
De Lima decided to cancel her earlier scheduled press conference on Monday about her drug cases, to give way to Lascanas’ press conference set by Trillanes at 10 a.m..
She claimed she did not know beforehand that Trillanes had with him the retired police officer Lascanas, or that he was coming out to pin Duterte, and to say that the Davao Death Squad indeed existed. She said she was “surprised” to know of Lascanas’ new revelations.
“Nung lumabas si Lascanas, talaga namang nagulat kami. It was such a hair-raising thing. Hindi ko inaasahan lumantad na rin si Lascanas. This is definitely very explosive,” De Lima said.
“Talaga pong dapat na magkaroon ng imbestigasyon dito. Hindi po ito dapat ipagbalewala na naman,” she added.
