Philippine ex-policeman accuses Rodrigo Duterte’s son, daughter of masterminding Davao drug killings
- Arturo Lascanas said Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, as Davao mayor in 2012, instructed law enforcement officers to abduct and bury drug suspects to portray them as kidnapping
- He also alleged she teamed up with senator and then-Davao police chief, while her brother and vice-mayor Paolo ran a clandestine drug smuggling syndicate
Arturo Lascanas said current Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio devised an operation, instructing law enforcement officials to abduct and bury drug suspects to portray them as kidnapping cases, when she was Davao mayor in 2012.
Lascanas alleged she teamed up with senator and then-Davao police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to spearhead the offensive, while her brother and vice-mayor Paolo Duterte ran a clandestine drug smuggling syndicate.
“Sara was the instigator of oplan tokhang,” Lascanas, referring to the anti-narcotics drive in which officers knocked on the doors of suspected drug users or peddlers and ordered them to mend their ways.
“Bato told me, they crafted a new extrajudicial killing campaign against illegal drugs,” said Lascanas, who worked with the Davao city police for 34 years and was part of a Davao death squad.
“Their target was personalities against illegal drugs, especially those who are using and selling shabu (methamphetamine). He said, drown the target so that the case becomes a missing person case.”
He added Duterte-Carpio adopted the strategy to take the media spotlight off the killings and other suspected rights abuses, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
