STATEMENT OF AKBAYAN SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS ON THE REVELATIONS OF SPO3 LASCANAS

The revelations made by SPO3 Arthur Lascanas today are a direct stab at the credibility of President Rodrigo Duterte and undermine his moral capacity to lead. They strengthen suspicions that the death squads responsible for thousands of unsolved extrajudicial killings (EJKs) are state sanctioned.

At the outset, Lascanas' testimony is different from those made by the convicted drug lords against Senator Leila De Lima. The government used criminals as witnesses against de Lima, who have everything to gain and nothing to lose. On the other hand, Lascanas, was a Davao police officer who served during President Duterte's time as Davao mayor; his stature and experience, and the risk he is taking in speaking against the highest leader of the land, could make him a source of reliable information and clarify, once and for all, issues surrounding the Davao Death Squad (DDS), and its association with President Duterte.

I call on the Senate to provide the necessary venue for Lascanas to divulge everything he knows about the DDS and the alleged involvement of the President. Lascanas' new revelation was made in the senate, and it overturns his previous testimony in the concluded Senate investigation on the EJKs. The Senate must respond to the public's clamor for truth and accountability.