The incredible story of SPO3 Lascañas
Why do I find the turnaround testimony of SPO3 Arthur Lascañas incredible when last Monday he revealed that indeed the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) did exist? It's because he openly admitted that then Davao City mayor Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte paid them P100, 000 per kill. Come now, if you were Mayor Duterte and you had the DDS on your payroll, why do you need to pay your killers a hundred thousand a pop?
If Mayor Duterte was smart, all he needed to do was to come to Cebu and get those assassins-for-hire riding on motorcycles who will accept smaller amounts like P10,000 or even less to kill anyone you want to get rid of permanently. This is why I find the testimony of Lascañas so incredible! Sure back in 2003 we had suspects as to who had radio commentator Jun Pala killed. But to accuse Duterte that he paid the killer P4 million is another incredible story if you ask me.
I also agree with the observations of Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar that the turnaround testimony of Lascañas was perfectly timed hopefully to cause the outrage of the Filipino people and trig-ger another EDSA Revolt! Didn't you notice that as if on cue, no less than Senator Antonio Trillanes IV called for an investigation on his testimony? Clearly this was planned and timed by the Yellowtards who want to call for another People Power march timed for this Saturday's 31st anniversary of the People Power Revolution. What else could it be? Why are all these coming out just when Sen. Leila de Lima is about to be arrested and quite timely for the EDSA anniversary?
Now how do we treat the retraction of Lascañas who earlier testified against Edgar Matobato, calling him a liar when he said that the DDS ex-isted? I got this quote from retired executive judge Simeon Dumdum Jr. who wrote this piece in his Facebook page entitled, WHAT THE SUPREME COURT SAYS ABOUT RETRACTIONS –
"This Court has always looked with disfavor upon retraction of testimonies previously given in court. The asserted motives for the repudiation are commonly held suspect, and the veracity of the statements made in the affidavit of repudiation are frequently and deservedly subject to serious doubt. Mere retraction by a prosecution witness does not necessarily vitiate the original testimony if credible.
The rule is settled that in cases where previous testimony is retracted and a subsequent different, if not contrary, testimony is made by the same witness, the test to decide which testimony to believe is one of comparison coupled with the application of the general rules of evidence. A testimony solemnly given in court should not be set aside and disregarded lightly, and before this can be done, both the previous testimony and the subsequent one should be carefully compared and juxtaposed, the circumstances under which each was made, carefully and keenly scrutinized, and the reasons or motives for the change, discriminatingly analyzed. (People v Lamsen, G.R. No. 198338, Nov.13, 2013)"
Clearly we can see an orchestrated move with the Human Rights organizations leading the charge. Allow me to print a letter from the Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phelim Kine whom I suspect is a close friend of Sen. de Lima. Here's the letter in full.
"The allegations by former police officer Arturo Lascañas – that Presi-dent Rodrigo Duterte, when mayor of Davao City, ordered the killing of several people – heighten the urgent need for an independent United Nations investigation into more than 7,000 people in Duterte's 'war on drugs' to uncover ultimate responsibility for those crimes.
The disclosures also suggest possible motivations for the Duterte administration's moves to launch a politically motivated prosecution of Senator Leila de Lima, who as chair of the Commission on Human Rights in 2009 launched the only official investigation into the Davao Death Squad killings. The authorities should immediately drop all charges against Senator de Lima, cease their harassment of her and cooperate fully with a UN probe." Need I say more?
All these are coming out of the woodwork and it's a no-brainer that we can see how these things are poorly orchestrated by the people who want to bring down the president. Duterte ought to ignore these allegations and go on with his work because they are a mere distraction for him.
- Latest
