Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte ordered to have Cebuano businessman Richard King killed in 2014, according to a supposed member of Davao Death Squad on Thursday, September 15.
Edgar Matobato, who claimed that he was a member of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), revealed that he was ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte’s son, Paolo, then Davao City vice mayor, to kill King because they were “rivals” over a woman.
Matobato served as the key witness during the resumption of the Senate investigation into the extrajudicial killings linked to the administration’s war on drugs. He also claimed that as a Davao Death Squad member, they executed criminals as ordered by Duterte, who served as the mayor of Davao City for more than 20 years.
King, the owner of the Crown Regency Group of Hotels, was shot dead in the Vital C Building in Davao City on June 12, 2014.
Matobato said that two of the men who made the hit on King were rebel returnees and members of the Davao Death Squad and were later “double crossed.” He alleged that they were paid P500,000 for the hit but were later killed.
The Senate witness added that he was blamed as King’s killer because he already wanted to leave the team that he repeatedly called as Davao City government’s “heinous crime.” He said that a certain “Colonel Felonia” was later blamed for the killing of King.
[ads1]
Superintendent Leonardo Felonia was detained as the suspect in King’s murder.
Matobato also revealed that he was tortured week-long in relation to King’s case but was later released. He then moved around Cebu, Leyte and Samar to hide. It was not until 2014 that he “surrendered” to the Commission on Human Rights but was told that the commission would not be able to offer him protection. He then went to the Department of Justice, which put him under the witness protection program.
However, Matobato said he left the program when Duterte won as president, which also led to DOJ stopping its investigation into the Davao Death Squad, seeing as how Matobato was their only witness. He only surfaced at the Senate probe on Thursday as he feared for his life under the Duterte administration.
Matobato further made several allegations about how Paolo Duterte ordered the killings of a few other people after getting into an argument with them.
Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte issued a statement on Matobato’s testimonies against him.
“What (Sen. Leila) de Lima and this certain Matobato say in public are bare allegations and in the absence of proof are mere hearsay. I will not dignify the accusations of a madman,” Paolo said.
— People’s Television (@PTVph) September 15, 2016
BREAKING | DAVAO CITY VM PAOLO DUTERTE’s statement on Senate hearing on alleged EJKs, testimonies of Matobato pic.twitter.com/M1WWqmSaARSources: (rappler.com, sunstar.com)
[ads3]
