Duterte ordered to kill broadcaster Jun Pala, says De Lima's witness

MANILA, Philippines — An alleged member of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) told the Senate on Thursday morning that former Davao City mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte ordered to kill broadcaster Jun Pala.

Sen. Leila de Lima presented Edgar Matobato, a former Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) member, during the Senate inquiry on drug-related killings.

Matobato, who testified before the Senate, told lawmakers that his group planned to kill Pala in 2003 upon the order of then-Mayor Duterte through a certain Arthur Lascañas. He claimed that he was not part of the murder.

The broadcaster came to public attention when Duterte cited him as one of the members of the press who deserved to be targets of assassination in a press conference in June.

“The example here is Pala. I do not want to diminish his memory, but he was a rotten son of a bitch.” Duterte said. “He deserved it.”

Pala, who was later on elected as Davao City councilor, is known as a hard-hitting commentator of Aksyon Radyo dxGO in the city who spoke against communist vigilante group Alsa Masa and the DDS.

Pala and then-Mayor Duterte used to be friends despite the former’s anti-communism stance.

In 2001, however, a feud started brewing between the two when Duterte reportedly did not give in to some of Pala’s requests.

Pala was gunned down on Sept. 6, 2003 by two men onboard a motorcycle while walking home from work. He sustained nine gunshot wounds in the chest and died on the spot.

Duterte previously said that he always been pointed as the perpetrator of Pala’s murder but insisted that he had nothing to do with it.