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Philippines President Duterte 'ordered death squad hits while

mayor'
By Chieu Luu, Tiffany Ap and Kathy Quiano, CNN

Updated 1321 GMT (2121 HKT) September 15, 2016

(CNN) Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte's office has

Story highlights
Philippines Senate is hearing evidence about
alleged extrajudicial killings
Sharp rise in killings since President Duterte
took office in late June

denied accusations that Duterte ordered a militia group to

carry out extrajudicial killings while he was mayor of
Davao City.
The claims were made by a witness who was testifying
Thursday before a Philippines Senate committee set up to

probe alleged extrajudicial killings in the three months since Duterte became president.
The man, who identified himself as Edgar Matobato, testified that he was part of the 300member "Davao Death Squad" (DDS), which he alleges was run on the orders of Duterte.
Matobato testified the DDS killed alleged drug dealers and criminals in the southern city of Davao,
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on the order of Duterte when he was mayor, between 1988 and 2013. More than 1,000 were
killed in Davao City alone, he claimed.

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Edgar Matobato answers questions as he testifies before the Philippine Senate in Pasay, south of Manila,
Philippines on Thursday Sept. 15, 2016.

President's office denies claims

During a regularly scheduled press conference Thursday, Duterte's communications secretary
denied the claims.
When asked by a reporter if he thought Duterte was capable of giving such directive, Martin
Andanar said: "The Commission on Human Rights already conducted an investigation years ago,
when the President was still a Mayor, and charges were not filed, they did not see any direct
evidence."
Malacaang denies the allegations of witness Matobato against President Duterte. https://t.co/iJIeozLCvh
pic.twitter.com/pj44e7MySq
CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) September 15, 2016

Last year, Duterte addressed claims he was part of a death squad during a regular live weekly TV
show broadcast locally in the Philippines.
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"Me? They are saying that I'm part of a death squad? True, that's true," he said in a mix of English
and Visayan, a language spoken in southern Philippines, before threatening to kill thousands
more criminals and dump them into Manila Bay if he was elected president of the Philippines.
He later retracted that statement in a press conference, telling reporters there were "no Davao
death squads," but the allegations remain and numerous local and international human rights
groups have repeatedly criticized his record.
Matobato testified the death squad started out as a "liquidation squad" called "Lambada Boys,"
which he said was formed by Duterte.
"Our work was to kill criminals like drug pushers, rapists, snatchers. Those were the people we
killed every day," Matobato said.
He said the group grew in 1993 and evolved into the DDS. Its members consisted of former
rebels and police.
After cursing Obama, Duterte expresses regret

Suspects 'buried in a quarry'

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In his testimony, Matobato went into detail about several cases, including an alleged order by
Duterte to "massacre the mosques of Muslims" after the Davao City Cathedral was bombed in
1993.
"A few days later, he ordered that we arrest and kill Muslim suspects, so we were staking out the
Muslims," Matobato testified. He added the squad kidnapped and killed the suspects and buried
them in a quarry.
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When the Philippines Commission of Human Rights

launched an investigation into the Davao killings in 2009,
Duterte allegedly ordered the DDS to kill the
Commission's Chairman Leila de Lima, according to
Matobato. But the killing was not carried out.
Matobato also brought up other cases in his testimony,
including one in 2010 when he alleged Duterte ordered
the killing of his own sister's boyfriend.

Matobato accused Duterte of ordering the DDS to kill a journalist who was critical of him.

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The Philippines "state of lawlessness" 01:16

President's son implicated

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And, in his testimony, he implicated Duterte's son Paolo, who is now Vice Mayor of Davao. He told
the committee Paolo Duerte also ordered the DDS to kill people, and that Paolo was a drug user.
One of the people Paolo Duterte ordered killed was billionaire Richard King in 2014, with whom he
was fighting with over a woman, Matobato said.
"People are like chickens in Davao," Matobato said.
Paolo Duterte posted a response on Facebook saying "What de Lima and this certain Matobato
say in public are bare allegations in the absence of proof. They are mere hearsay. I will not dignify
with an answer the accusations of a madman."

Witness says he was tortured

Matobao told the committee he quit the death squad in 2013 and was tortured and threatened to
keep quiet about the killings.
He said he surrendered to the Philippines Commission of Human Rights and the Department of
Justice in 2014 and was in Witness Protection up until earlier this year.
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He left Witness Protection before Duterte took the presidency because he feared for his life, he
said.
Duterte's tongue the least of Obama's Philippine problem

Duterte's war on drugs

Duterte has come under increasing international criticism for his war on drugs, which as of late
August had claimed more than 1,900 lives.
Testifying before the Senate committee on August 23, Philippines National Police chief Ronald
dela Rosa said that more 700 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations
since July 1.
He added that the police "follow the rule of law" and that there was no shoot-to-kill order despite
the growing toll of bodies piling up in the wake of Duterte's crackdown.
Duterte came into office with huge public support after he vowed to clean up the country of drugs
and corruption.

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