CHR declares 'breakthrough' in Davao vigilante slays' probe

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head Leila de Lima declared a “breakthrough” in the investigation into the existence of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) after more skeletal remains believed to be those of victims of summary executions here were dug up.

De Lima arrived here Saturday to oversee the exhumation at the Laud quarry site in Barangay Ma-a here, after the CHR was able to get a search warrant from Regional Trial Court Branch 50 Judge William Peralta to further scour the area where the remains of the vigilantes’ victims were believed buried.

For the first time, journalists were allowed to enter the quarry site, which more than 60 elements of the Regional Mobile Group have been securing.

De Lima said the skeletal remains and the surfacing of a credible witness provided a “breakthrough” to their investigation into the summary killings.

Search warrants flawed?

However, certain quarters in the local legal community cited flaws in the search warrants issued by Manila judges, particularly on the issue of jurisdiction.

“The law provides that the Manila RTC has no jurisdiction over the Laud quarry site and that the search warrant could be quashed because it did not conform with the stipulated conditions. First, a search warrant could only be issued outside of jurisdiction if it would be a continuing crime or if the case concerned international property rights,” a source said, adding that the search warrant was thus invalid.

“And it goes with whatever the CHR-led team recovered from the area. They are worthless and could not be of any use,” the source added.

Despite the “breakthrough,” De Lima said they still have no solid evidence to link Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to the DDS.

De Lima earlier said she would prove to Duterte that the death squad indeed exists.

She said they first have to complete their probe on the summary killings before making any recommendations or actions against anybody believed behind these executions.

She said they have until July 20 to search for possibly more skeletal human remains in three remaining spots in the Laud quarry site owned by a former police officer, a certain Bienvenido Laud.

Last July 6, the CHR-led team dug up eight bone sticks and other bone fragments. But the search got stalled after the local courts denied the CHR’s application for a search warrant.

The search only continued Saturday after a Manila judge issued the warrant, yielding more skeletal remains as well as license plates, bullets and cell phone holders.

De Lima said a self-confessed former member of the DDS pinpointed the exact sites.

She said they have been receiving information on the dumping grounds of bodies of the vigilantes’ victims in the past months.

“But we did not believe them at first because what we knew then was that (the death squad) strike in broad daylight and leave their victims,” she said.

This, until a few weeks ago, when a witness got in touch with the CHR and identified the DDS’ dumping sites right within the firing range at the quarry area, De Lima said.

She said the owner of the place has a lot of explaining to do. “So he better tell us now if he really has no involvement in these killings,” she added.

Davao City cops tagged

She said the informant also tagged some members of the Heinous Crime Investigation Section (HCIS) of the city police in abductions and killings in 2002 to 2003.

She said these HCIS members are either still on active duty or have retired.

De Lima said their witnesses are now under the protective custody of some people, although they are now facilitating that they be placed under the witness protection program of the Department of Justice.

De Lima vouched for the witnesses’ credibility, saying they have “first-hand information” on the operations of the vigilante group.

She said one of them belonged to a civilian auxiliary group and received salary from City Hall.

“What is certain at this point is that some HCIS members are behind the vigilante killings,” she said.

Speaker Prospero Nograles said the discovery of the skeletal remains should hasten the case against the death squad, although he cautioned the CHR against having fall guys or false witnesses.

He added that evidence linking local policemen to the killings only makes the report of the New York Watch and United Nations on the death squad being government-sponsored “very credible to say the least.” – With Delon Porcalla