Inconsistencies

The burden of proof is on the accuser, and any inconsistency can doom a story alleging wrongdoing. The more serious the crime imputed, the heavier the required burden of proof.

Inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the stories of retired Senior Police Officer 3 Arthur Lascañas and self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato have fueled skepticism about the claims they made regarding the operations of a death squad in Davao City when Rodrigo Duterte was its mayor.

Lascañas could cite threats to his life to explain the reversal of his original testimony at the Senate, during which he denied the existence of the death squad.

What he couldn’t explain were significant inaccuracies that were noted by several senators including Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief who is himself hounded by human rights issues. Also noted by the senators were inconsistencies in narrations of the same events by Lascañas and Matobato.

Lacson cited the perils of the “treachery of memory” as he recalled that he himself had been accused of serious crimes by witnesses who later recanted their stories.

He grilled Lascañas particularly on a critical detail: did the retired cop personally witness the killing or simply hear  the sound of a .22-caliber handgun with a silencer that purportedly finished off a kidnapper, his pregnant wife and their four-year-old son, his 70-year-old father-in-law and two helpers? Lascañas corrected what he said at a press conference and said he merely heard the muffled gunshots.

In assessing the weight of a testimony with no other supporting evidence, there’s a whale of a difference between being an eyewitness to multiple murder and merely hearing gunshots from a weapon equipped with a silencer.

This is important particularly in our country where too many prosecution witnesses have recanted testimonies and cops and politicians alike have a propensity for producing fake eyewitnesses.

Lascañas also taxed credulity when he said he decided to admit to heinous crimes that could put him behind bars for life after he dreamed of being hounded by the devil and being saved by a “white light” that turned out to be Jesus Christ.

While such stories are common in this predominantly Catholic country and Lascañas might have actually had such a dream, people also wondered if he was on Fentanyl.

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A dilemma for the government is that if it indicts the two purported death squad executioners for the heinous crimes they supposedly committed, it would give credence to the testimonies and constitute an acknowledgment that they could be telling the truth about Duterte’s role as the “Superman” of the Davao death squad.

But Lascañas and Matobato may still face charges for murder and other crimes that do not involve Duterte. Would they one day retract or amend their stories against the President?

Human rights advocates should find the holes in the two men’s stories unfortunate, because some parts have the ring of truth, including those where Dirty Rody supposedly played a key role.

Du30’s landslide win and surveys throughout his presidency indicate that human rights advocates face an uphill battle in eroding public support for quick fixes to the drug menace and criminality.

I know people who, while properly horrified by Lascañas’ story about the massacre of that unfortunate family, have little sympathy for the kidnapper whose crime triggered the mass execution.

And I know people who, if they or their loved ones would become victims of kidnapping for ransom, rape or worse, wouldn’t mind if cops would execute the perpetrators. They might not even mind if members of the criminals’ entire clan are likewise annihilated.

How do you think ransom kidnapping and bank robbery sprees in the past were curbed? Not by playing nice with the kidnappers and robbers or worrying about their wives and children. Just ask Ping Lacson.

In fact I’ve heard people wonder aloud why the government isn’t kidnapping relatives of the Abu Sayyaf bandits who are holding dozens of hostages for ransom in Sulu. An eye for an eye… a decapitated head for another.

That would be a descent to the Heart of Darkness, but aren’t we already there?

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Fortunately for survivors or relatives of Tokhang and death squad fatalities, human rights advocates are also a determined bunch.

A case is reportedly being prepared against Dirty Rody for filing soon before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with extrajudicial killings committed by the death squads in Davao and under Tokhang. The case will be for crimes against humanity.

For the ICC to step in, those readying the case must be prepared to prove that avenues for redress in this country have been exhausted and there is institutional failure, which lives no recourse but to turn to the international court.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes has also warned Du30 of impeachment for EJKs. But the President cannot be impeached for crimes committed when he was mayor. As for the executions under Oplan Tokhang and Double Barrel, he has often said he’s ready for prison and he can give up his post anytime.

And impeachment in this country, as we all know from experience, is a political act that must emanate from the House of Representatives.

If you want to predict the fate of any attempt to impeach the President at this point, you just have to look at the House vote on the bill restoring capital punishment. So Malacañang’s response to the impeachment threat is, dream on.

President Duterte still enjoys the support of the super majority in the House, and at least the majority in this country.

Holes in the testimonies of key witnesses in mass killings can only strengthen that majority support.

There seem to be nuggets of truth in those stories. But guilt must be based on the whole truth and nothing but. Something less than the whole truth will compromise an entire testimony.