President Rodrigo Duterte's chief presidential legal counsel branded as "fabrication" the testimony by a retired police official in a Senate inquiry.

 

In a statement, Secretary Salvador Panelo said Duterte abhors any violation of the Constitution or any law.

 

"It's a fabrication," he said of the statements made by former Davao City Senior Police Officer 3 Arturo Lascanas, who appeared before the Senate public order committee retracting his earlier statement regarding Duterte.

 

Lascanas has accused Duterte of ordering the killing and bombing of mosque in Davao City when he was still a mayor.

 

"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," Panelo said.

 

"Anything he does as president is pursuant to the constitutional duty of serving and protecting the people imposed on him by the basic charter," he added.

 

Lascanas, in retracting his earlier statement, claimed he was the leader of the Davao Death Squad, which Duterte allegedly formed.

In his testimony during Monday's hearing, he claimed he was only forced to lie regarding Duterte's alleged involvement in the killings in Davao. Celerina Monte/DMS