Are the Duterte children capable of killing?
If Davao Death Squad insiders Arturo Lascañas and Edgar Matobato testified in sworn affidavits to the International Criminal Court that Rodrigo Duterte was truly the perpetrator of extrajudicial killings, can the children be far behind?
In these days of furious public clamor on the public works corruption mess, it is a relevant question to ask. For this is one possible scenario: the Duterte children may eventually be pushed into a corner if discovery of their links to corruption scandals may surface.
These children were raised up never to fear the repercussions of their actions. They can explode in violent behavior. Sara’s plan to have Bongbong and Liza Marcos assassinated when the House’s citation of contempt for Zuleika Lopez tested Sara’s patience, was a manifestation of that venom.
If we go by the facts of these sworn affidavits to the ICC, the Duterte children are capable of giving orders to kill.
Edgar Matobato made reference to a bloody incident at Deca Homes in Davao City when Paolo Duterte was confronted for his hoodlum behavior. Despite the city’s retrogression as a muzzled city, a man provoked Paolo one day by flatly telling him: Gasalig ka kay anak ka sa mayor? (You think you are powerful because you are the mayor’s son?).
Matobato narrated in a secret interview conducted by a priest, the transcript of which is now in the possession of the ICC. From Cebuano, it was translated into English. This interview was never published before.
“There was that killing in Deca Homes that Paolo had raised to us only because of an argument. Three were killed including a woman. I think Paolo kind of abused them and the guy answered him back.”
The killing was swift. “Paolo called us, Major Lao, Major Francia to go to Deca Homes. We entered the home of the victim.” And just like that, three people were shot.
“Paolo ordered that. Then there was the fixer of the Land Transportation Office whom he ordered killed. We dumped the body in San Rafael Village. Then there was that killing in Ecoland, a man who was only loading gas. He ordered us to kill that man. We picked the man up in Times Beach Resort and we buried the body after.”
Arturo Lascañas had his own accounts of Paolo. Sometime 2010, three unidentified persons riding in two motorcycles along the city’s MacArthur Highway mauled Paolo. The three did not recognize the mayor’s son. The DDS team soon got hold of two of the suspects and abducted them. They were presented to Paolo who positively identified one. The next day, they were found dead.
One incident took place in 2012 when Paolo was city councilor. He went to see the DDS team of Lascañas and narrated to them “about an alleged swindler who duped several business establishments in Davao City by using his name without his knowledge and consent.” The team promised that they would investigate and arrest the suspect.
After several days, Lascañas called up Paolo to inform him that they had a person of interest. The team leader was taken aback by Paolo’s response. He ordered Lascañas not to investigate anymore and instead kill the man. Lascañas had reservations, but his colleague Jim Tan then said: “Let’s grant him his request, because he is Superman’s son. So next time, he would return the favor.” Superman was the DDS code name for Rodrigo Duterte.
The killers then asked for Superman’s clearance. Having secured that, a hit team was organized. The target was shot dead together with one collateral damage – the “shit happens” in the lingo of Ronald dela Rosa that he says “cannot be avoided.” He was director of the Davao City Police Office that time.
Take note of the progression of this narrative. The Duterte son was free to give orders to kill, minor as he was then in the political hierarchy of Davao City. He was only an ex-officio city councilor by virtue of his being the chair of the city’s association of barangay captains (2008-2013).
But because he was a Duterte, the killing team, which had the cover of being the “heinous crime task force” of the city’s police, was transformed into the Duterte family’s private guns for hire.
The Duterte children are capable of giving orders to kill because that is the political culture they had been habituated to. It was a spoiled-child syndrome where power was not just concentrated on the father but apportioned and duplicated to his children. If the father killed, so did the children.
It was a political economy nurtured by a smooth ride – they controlled ALL of Davao City by silencing opposition and journalists’ criticisms. Its educational institutions that forbade critical opinions of the Dutertes as a ruling family legitimized abuse of power.
For three decades now, two kinds of zombies were born in Davao City. The zombie of unthinking subservience to and adulation of the Dutertes is one. These are zombies convinced that it is the safest city in the world by the deception of the crowd-sourced Numbeo. The second are the silenced citizens. They see both abuse and absurdity but they cannot speak about it for fear of being killed.
Why do we have senators who never speak the Duterte name in the current investigations as if the name is “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”? The reason is simple – implicate the Dutertes in corruption and that will be the end of one’s political survival. Marcoleta fears that. Alan Cayetano fears for his political demise. Robin Padilla’s fear is the same for his only capital is Duterte support and nothing else. And Joel Villanueva – he fears the death of his entire Villanueva dynastic family.
Even Benjamin Magalong thinks of the Dutertes as his Voldemort.
That is precisely what the crowds on the streets are tired of – impunity of the Dutertes. Underestimate that and we can be the next Madagascar.
The only way now is to be spectators of what Dutertes are like when pushed into a corner. That will give us front seats to how they fight against accountability – dirty and deadly.
When the Duterte case in the ICC is yet to go on a full-scale trial, many Filipinos need to be educated by the truth about the Davao Death Squad killings because that is a main focus of the ICC case. The testimonies of the two former DDS hitmen Lascañas and Matobato will never lose relevance. They should continue to be preserved in public memory because the crusade for truth-telling is still a long road ahead.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
