De Lima vows to prove existence of Davao death squads

DAVAO CITY , PHilippines  – Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chair Leila de Lima yesterday said she was taking the challenge posed by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte that he would resign as mayor should it be proven that he is behind the existence of the Davao Death Squad.

“Remember the challenge of the mayor. I am taking his challenge. I will prove that there is such a Davao Death Squad,” said De Lima, who arrived here yesterday for the resumption of the public inquiry on summary killings at the Waterfront Insular Hotel.

Duterte expressed his willingness to resign during the March 30 opening of the CHR public inquiry on the more than 800 unexplained killings here that were allegedly carried out by the so-called vigilante group.

“I will resign as mayor the moment it is proven or even if there would just be an iota of evidence that there is a Davao Death Squad and I am behind it,” Duterte said.

De Lima expressed confidence that she would be able to prove what Duterte has been denying all along.

“We have witnesses who testified to us and gave us raw information about the operation of the Davao Death Squad and we are working on convincing them to really come out,” De Lima said.

She said some of the witnesses were actually former death squad members, and denied allegations that politics was the reason for the probe.

De Lima brushed aside speculations that she was conniving with Speaker Prospero Nograles in an effort to get deeper into the summary killings in Davao City.

“We are not concerned about such issues,” she said.

Nograles and Duterte are known political rivals and have been at odds with each other for the past several years.

“I do not know Speaker Nograles. I just know him as Speaker and nothing other than that,” De Lima said.

The human rights chief also explained that she is aware of how popular and well-loved Duterte is by the people of Davao.

De Lima grilled Duterte’s long-time driver, retired SPO4 Samson Buenaventura, during yesterday’s public hearing.

“I have to call him (Buenaventura), because based on information he is more than just a driver of the mayor. He knows a lot,” De Lima told reporters during a break in yesterday’s public hearing.

Buenaventura, on the other hand, denied any knowledge about the Davao Death Squad aside from what he said he read from the newspapers and saw on TV.

Duterte’s son Paolo, the barangay captain of Catalunan Pequeno here, was not able to attend the public hearing yesterday because he was in Manila for an official business.

Summoned to yesterday’s hearing were 27 of the city’s barangay captains, particularly in areas where the summary killings took place.

De Lima noted that the barangay captains were all mouthing a common line in their testimonies.

“They had a common answer that the killings were due to the gang wars and they all say that there is no Davao Death Squad,” she said.