MANILA, Philippines — Retired SPO3 Arthur Lascañas, who claims to be one of the leaders of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) in Davao City, reiterated on Monday the existence of the group and explained its structure in a Senate inquiry investigating the killings it allegedly committed.
Lascañas detailed before senators the structure of the DDS, a group of hitmen that President Rodrigo Duterte allegedly used as his liquidation squad during his time as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao.
Lascañas, a self-confessed hitman and leader of the group, said that when Duterte was first elected mayor of the city in 1988, he organized an anti-crime task force which was led by Major Ernesto Macasaet, a close associate of the then mayor.
Lascañas said that the police task force led by Macasaet was composed of other policemen from Davao City.
Aside from Lascañas, the other members of the anti-crime unit were retired Inspector Ildefonso Asentista, SPO4 (Ret.) Bienvenido Laud, the late SPO4 Fulgencio Pabo, SPO4 Geremias Baguhin, SPO3 Teodoro Pagidupon and SPO2 Jun Laresma.
“Una po, since naging mayor si Mayor Rodrigo Duterte kami na po ang pinakaunang death squad. Start of 1989 up to the middle of 1998,” Lascañas told senators.
Lascañas said that initially, the group was serious about going after criminals and organized crime, and this resulted in a decline in the crime rate of the city.
Winds, however, began to change shortly after when then-Mayor Duterte began organizing liquidation squads which later became known as the DDS.
Lascañas said Duterte started to order the killings of his personal and political enemies aside from drug addicts, drug pushers, snatchers and robbers.
“It was at this time that Mayor Duterte began organizing liquidation squads that later became known as the Davao Death Squads or DDS,” Lascañas said in his affidavit.
“We became like hired or contract killers who killed not only criminals but innocent people.”