Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Monday downplayed the recanted testimony of retired Senior Police Officer 3 Arthur Lascañas before a Senate inquiry where he claimed President Rodrigo Duterte in the killings perpetrated by the so-called Davao Death Squad.

 

"These acts alleged against President Duterte are not impeachable offenses because they involve supposed crimes committed during his term as mayor of Davao City. Impeachable offenses, on the other hand, cover only acts committed during a president's tenure in office," Aguirre said.

 

Aguirre described statements of Lascañas as mere "rehashed story" that have been raised against Duterte in the past, but did not prosper due to lack of evidence. Aguirre defended Duterte in the killings caused by the death squad in 2009.

 

Aguirre believes that Lascañas's recantation should be investigated.

 

"I might ask the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) to investigate it: why did he recant and who is behind it," he said.

 

Allegations against Duterte involving the death squad were investigated by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in 2009 under now Senator Leila De Lima as then chair - but nothing came out of it.

 

"If the CHR and De Lima had evidence, then the cases should have already been filed in court before. But there was none - not even one - that's why there's no case," Aguirre noted.

 

Aguirre said the CHR had pointed to a property of retired policeman Bienvenido Laud as alleged gravesite of victims of killings.

 

"But it was found that the site was where guerrillas were buried during the Japanese era, that's why there were bones dug from there. They weren't even sure whether the bones were humans of animals," Aguirre said.

He said the testimony of Lascañas could make the retired policeman criminally liable for multiple counts of murder and perjury. DMS