President Duterte has neither ordered the murder of any person nor violated the the country’s laws, a Palace official said in dispelling the lies peddled of a retired Davao policeman in a Senate hearing.
“It’s a fabrication,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said about the testimony of Arthur Lascañas about Duterte’s alleged involvement in the Davao Death Squad killings.
“It is out of character for the President to order the killing of a woman, pregnant or not, and for that matter any person. He is outraged by any extra-judicial killing. Neither will he tolerate it,” he added.
Panelo said the President also “abhors any violation of the Constitution or any law,” adding his actions are always in line with his constitutional duty to serve and protect the people.
Lascañas appeared in a Senate hearing for the second time and recanted his previous testimony about the existence of the DDS.The former cop has implicated the President to 200 killings by the notorious DDS when he was mayor of Davao City.
Panelo, however, pointed out some loopholes in Lascañas’ testimony.
He said as pointed out by Senator Panfilo Lacson, there was a “contradiction” between Lascañas’ statement in the press conference and in his affidavit.
“And he admitted that he had no personal knowledge of the killings and that he was only assuming. This admission he also made upon questioning of Sen. (Alan Peter) Cayetano,” he added.
Earlier, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said retired policeman Arturo Lascañas has lost all credibility in Malacañang’s book.
Abella dismissed Lascañas’ latest testimony against President Duterte as “fabricated and unacceptable” after retracting his earlier allegations about the Davao Death Squad (DDS).
“Arthur Lascanas has proven himself to be a polluted source and perjured witness. We therefore regard his testimony now as fabricated and unacceptable,” Abella said when asked if the Palace considers Lascañas as a credible witness and if the public should be wary of his testimony. (GENALYN KABILING)
