Senator Leila de Lima, chair of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, leads the inquiry on the extrajudicial killings, Monday morning.(MNS photo) MANILA, May 25 (Mabuhay) — Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday said that her colleagues in the Senate have “feigned disbelief” over the testimony of retired Davao City cop Arturo Lascañas. This came after the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs chaired by Senator Panfilo Lacson released Committee Report No. 97 on May 17, two months after Lascañas made a complete turnaround from an earlier testimony, saying he was “forced” to lie about the Davao killings then. “The testimonies of both Matobato and Lascañas are considered weak and did not pass the scrutiny of the respective committees they were presented. The lack of credibility of both witnesses results in the lack of evidentiary value of their testimonies,” the report said referring to another confessed hitman, Edgar Matobato, who earlier testified before the Senate justice committee. “Aside from the extrajudicial confession, no other piece of evidence was presented to prove the alleged conspiracy. Therefore, their confession has no probative value,” it added. De Lima, for her part, said that it was “unfortunate” that the Senate committee has considered Lascañas’ testimony as not credible, “inspite of the fact that it corroborates the previous allegations of Edgar Matobato.” “Some of my colleagues previously scoffed at Matobato and his story for allegedly being incredible and wanting in corroboration. Now that another conscience-stricken DDS (Davao Death Squad) insider, in the Read More …
