Lascañas’ EJK claims against Sara Duterte surface at trial

Photo from Inday Sara Duterte Facebook page. MANILA, Philippines – The claims of former self-proclaimed member of the Davao Death Squad (DDS) and ex-police officer Arturo Lascañas that Vice President Sara Duterte was among the architects of the “Oplan Tokhang” resurfaced during Duterte’s impeachment trial on Tuesday. This, as National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag testified to the Senate impeachment court about Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. In the direct examination of the House prosecution lead counsel Rep. Gerville Luistro, Matibag revealed that in the NBI’s investigation on the threats against the president, it aimed to establish “patterns of violence,” among others, against Duterte after she revealed an alleged assassination plot against the three. Article continues after this advertisement READ: VP Duterte’s bank docs may reveal more than AMLC reports – de Lima “We got hold of the affidavit of this former police officer Arturo Lascañas who is a self confessed member of DDS… This Arturo Lascañas says that the vice president himself was involved in Oplan Tokhang – one of the architects of Oplan Tokhang,” Matibag stated, citing Lascañas affidavit. “And here he also said that instead of shooting and killing so that the media wouldn’t know, just kidnap the subjects – the shabu users or those who commit other crimes or sell drugs and just bury them in a quarry, where it was found that this Laud quarry has victims of extrajudicial killings,” he continued. READ: Dela Rosa to Lascañas: Sue the Dutertes if you have proof on drug war Lascañas’ original affidavit is currently in the hands of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that is investigating the extrajudicial killings during the drug war of former President Rodrigo Duterte – the father of the vice president. Article continues after this advertisement The defense counsel Mark Vinluan objected to the presentation of such affidavit, noting that not only is the document unnotarized but also Matibag has no personal knowledge to the words of Lascañas. “We’re already going into the contents of the affidavit, and the witness has no competence to testify on that,” Vinluan pressed. Article continues after this advertisement But, Senate impeachment court presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero allowed Matibag to testify only as Matibag’s “narration… not as to the truth of the allegations of fact contained in the affidavit of Lascañas,” he reminded the senator-judges. Luistro then asked Matibag to read excerpts from Lascañas’ affidavit, which the NBI determined to show VP Duterte’s “patterns of violence.” The following excerpts from Lascañas statement, later submarked by the prosecution, was read by Matibag: The years 2012 were the birth of “Tokhang” Operations and the evil side of its enforcement in Davao City by its author, the newly-installed Davao City Police Office – Director Colonel Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. The operations were all cleared and approved by Mayors Inday Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio and Rodrigo Roa Duterte While eating, Col. “Bato” Dela Rosa told me in bisayan dialect why he summoned me, and I quote: “Tur” Nagkaisyorya me ni Mayor Inday parti sa atoang Tokhang operation, and order ni Mayor Inday sa akoa nga e-lay low sa nato ang “Pusil” sa atoang mga “Target” personalities. Kay samokan siya sa “media” magsige ug pangutana na pud. Kidanapa na lang ninyo ang “target” unya ilubog sa quarry para “missing” lang, Kay “OK” si Mayor INday sa ana nga paagi.” (Tur (nickname) I talked to Mayor INday. As part of our Tokhang operation, she ordered us to lay low our killings through gun shooting because the media is asking too much. Just kidnap the targets then bury them in the (Laud) quarry, so they would just go missing. She is OK with that way.) I later called up Retired Senior Police OFficer (04) Sonny Buenaventura and relayed to him Col Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s “Abduction Operation order” to me, as allegedly ordered to him by Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio. Sonny Buenaventura answered me that he would personally confirm and verify the matter with Mayor Inday Duterte.. I saw Mayor Inday Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio inside her vehicle, alone. I personally heard Mayor Inday Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio ordered Sonny Buenaventura and I, in bisayan dialect, and I quote: “Bulgar naman kayo nan “Pusilon” and “targit” ninyo “nong.” Kidnapa na lang ninyo para “missing” lang , para dili samok ang “media”! (Shooting your target is too brazen. Just kidnap them, so they would go missing and so that the media won’t bother us.) READ: Lascañas admits role in own brothers’ killings: I blame myself When Luistro was about to ask Matibag to identify more excerpts, Vinluan objected anew, saying reading Lascañas statement may be misleading. He also criticized the court saying it is “highly improper” to have Matibag read an affidavit that is not his own. “The reading of this document already creates an impression not only to the minds of the Senator-judges but also the public. They may be misled to believing the truth or falsity of these statements… This is highly improper – with all due respect – for this honorable court to allow the reading of a portion of an affidavit that is not authored by this witness,” Vinluan stressed. This time agreeing with the defense, Escudero ruled that no more of Lascañas’ affidavit be read. “Chair will cut short any further identification of the witness in regard to this affidavit. I think he has sufficiently established the so-called pattern of violence that he sought to establish in the investigation of the NBI,” Escudero told the court. In 2024, Lascañas also accused Duterte of leading the Oplan Tokhang – an accusation that the vice president has repeatedly denied. Dela Rosa, who is currently in hiding from the ICC, likewise contradicted Lascañas’ claims, challenging the latter to sue the Dutertes if he truly has proof of the killings. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. Lascañas turned his back on the Dutertes in February 2017, less than a year since Rodrigo Duterte sat as president of the Philippines. He confessed to his role as a hitman for the DDS, supposedly run by the former president when he was mayor of Davao City. /mr