PRESIDENT Duterte is not yet off the hook in connection with the killings involving the Davao Death Squad (DDS), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said, debunking claims made by Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar that the human-rights body had already “absolved” the former Davao City mayor.
The existence of the DDS was affirmed by retired Senior Officer 3 Arturo Lascañas, a retired Davao City policeman who admitted to being part of the notorious group at a news conference at the Senate on February 20.
Last year Lascañas appeared during a Senate inquiry on the existence of DDS to investigate the claims of Edgar Matobato on the alleged involvement of Duterte in the extrajudicial killings when he was still city mayor.
Andanar, downplaying Lascañas’s statement to the media, said Duterte was already absolved by the CHR, even though a majority vote in the Senate has cracked wide open the case of extrajudicial killings involving DDS and Duterte anew.
“The commission did not clear the former mayor of Davao City of extrajudicial killings and his alleged involvement in the Davao Death Squad,” the CHR said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The CHR said the resolution it issued on June 28, 2012, titled “In re: Extra-Judicial Killings Attributed or Attributable to the so-called Davao Death Squad”, did not contain any portion mentioning that the commission had exonerated Duterte from the killings.
The commission said what it stated in its resolution was that the “continuing pattern of killings and the failure to conduct a meaningful investigation of such incidents can be construed as tolerance on the part of the authorities of the crimes hereto described, thereby contributing to the climate of impunity.”
Thus, in the same resolution, the CHR recommended “that the Office of the Ombudsman investigate the possible administrative and criminal liability of Mayor Duterte for his inaction in the face of evidence of numerous killings committed in Davao City and his toleration of the commission of these offenses.”
The CHR said it was “clear from the quoted portions of the resolution that deaths have occurred in significant numbers and no investigations were conducted by the local government.”
“Deaths continued to occur with impunity during the term of the former mayor. Hence, the commission forwarded its resolution to the Ombudsman. The [Office of the] Ombudsman, based on its recent pronouncements, has resumed its investigation according to news articles,” the comnmission said.
It added: “Extrajudicial killings may be committed not only by direct participation but also as a result of the failure of [the] government to investigate and hold people [who did the killings] to account.”
“Tolerance or acquiescence to the killings is demonstrated by the inaction of state agents. Our previous investigation showed no serious efforts were undertaken to address the killings at the time. On the part of the Commission, it is pursuing cases as leads arise, including the revelation of SPO3 Arthur Lascañas,” the CHR said.