Police vow protection for witnesses vs Davao death squads

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  — Southern Mindanao regional police director Chief Superintendent Pedro Tango assured witnesses that they would be given police protection if they come out and shed light on the existence of the alleged vigilante group or Davao death squad.

The Davao death squad has been blamed for the spate of summary executions in this city that have victimized mostly local criminals and illegal drug dealers.

Hundreds of cases of killings here have remained unresolved and witnesses are apparently afraid to come out for fear of retribution from the suspects.

Commission on Human Rights Chairman Leila de Lima earlier said they have a hard time convincing witnesses mentioned in the recently released Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the Davao summary killings, because they do not trust the government’s witness protection program (WPP).

“If the witnesses think that they are not protected by the witness protection program, then we, at the Philippine National Police will secure them and give them the security that they want. In that way, they could testify and tell everything they know about DDS,” Tango told The STAR.

De Lima said that those witnesses who have been mentioned in the HRW report actually also used aliases to protect their identities.

Tango said he already instructed his chiefs of police to get in touch with those mentioned in the HRW report so that cases could be pursued against those involved in the extra-judicial killings.

Meanwhile, De Lima said the public hearing on the vigilante group would resume on the second week of May after its second hearing was held last Friday here at the Davao Waterfront Insular Hotel.