SINGAPORE – Death, he knows, can now come any time for someone like him who has made the most explosive revelations on a killing machine he was part of, and which he links to the most powerful man in the Philippines.
But to retired Senior Police Officer 3 Arturo Lascañas, the fear of reprisal or of being jailed for confessing to crimes is nothing compared to the fear of eternal damnation he is certain would be his, had he not made that fateful decision to confirm the existence of the Davao Death Squad which he alleged was sanctioned by then-Davao mayor now President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Siguro itong mga nangyayari sa akin ay kagustuhan ito ng Diyos. Na-accept ko na lahat. Kung ano ang mangyari sa akin, physical harm, painful death, persecution. Baka darating…[Maybe all these things happening to me were ordained by God. I’ve accepted everything. Whatever happens to me — physical harm, painful death, persecution. These might all happen]…” he told News5 in an interview from his safe house in Singapore. He had flown to the city-state weeks after recanting a Senate testimony and admitting that, indeed, there was a DDS and admitting his role there.
The retired police officer, who had said he had a change of heart and admitted the truth after a spiritual experience while struggling to stay alive despite a kidney ailment, knows that despite, or because of, his admission of guilt he could very well be charged and jailed.
“I’m prepared, mentally, spiritually. Nakulong nga senador, ako pa hindi [If even senators were jailed, what more someone like me]?” Lascañas pointed out.
Still, he has no regrets about pointing to Duterte as the alleged mastermind of the spate of killings in Davao when he was mayor trying to restore order in a city ridden with criminal activity and insurgency as the country transitioned from dictatorship to democracy in the eighties.
“Nagpasalamat nga ako na hindi ko nadala itong [I am so thankful I will not bring with me to the grave this] dark side of my person,” Lascañas said.
He said that if he had died without revealing what he knew, “talagang wala akong kapatawaran [then there would have been no forgiveness for me].”
Parallels with killings today
In the view of Lascañas, even though the events involving the DDS and the Davao killings happened decades ago, they have a connection to current deaths in the war on drugs led by Duterte.
He noted similarities in the modus: “Tingin ko parehas lang. The riding in tandem. Barilin ka sa ulo. Packing [tape], saksakin. Itapon, lalagyan ng cardboard, the same sa Davao [I think the techniques are the same. Killers ride in tandem on motorbikes. They shoot people in the head, cover them with packing tape, stab them. They throw away bodies, leave them with cardboard].”
Lascañas has accepted that many people disbelieve him because he had changed his testimony, from denying the DDS existence before Senate probers in October 2016 and then confirming it in a presser organized by the office of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in early March 2017.
Still, he asserted, there’s basis for believing him, because he spoke of things he was privy to and had participated in, and he spoke against self-interest, a vital principle in assessing witness credibility. As a result of speaking what he insisted is the truth, he has endangered, he stressed, not just his life but those of his loved ones as well as some friends who are now in hiding.
“Lahat ng pinagsasabi kong krimen, personal akong kasama. Alam ko na incriminating ito sa sarili ko. Isa pa . . . tinaya ko ang buhay ko, hindi lang buhay ko, pati mahal ko sa buhay. [Pati] mga kaibigan ko, sila din nagtatago na rin.”
Others could testify
He said others could follow in his footsteps and testify, as the pressure from conscience and fear of being killed along with their secrets weighs on them.
“Many others will come after me. They might not be able to bear the pressure, considering there is now distrust against people who, like me, played roles in the killings. I do expect some others will follow suit,” Lascañas said, speaking mostly in Filipino.
Other ex-DDS members, however, could be taking the opposite route: instead of seeking redemption by speaking the truth, they could be targeting him, Lascañas said, adding that he was ready for that possibility.
He named one Sonny Buenaventura, whom he tagged as a trusted aide of Duterte.
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