MANILA, Philippines – A former Davao City police official tagged as an alleged member of the Davao Death Squad was earlier penalized by the Ombudsman for the “unabated” killings in Davao City.

Senator Leila de Lima revealed this on Monday, October 3, during the 5th Senate hearing into the spate of extrajudicial killings under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

De Lima, citing the Ombudsman decision, said retired Senior Superintendent Dionisio Abude – former chief of Davao City Police’s Heinous Crime Division – and 20 other high-ranking officials were penalized in 2012 for failing to solve the killings in the city. They were fined equivalent to one month salary.

“This is from the website of the Office of the Ombudsman that you along with 20 high ranking officers were penalized with fine lang po (just a fine), equivalent to one month salary because of unabated killings in Davao City. So you confirm that?” De Lima asked.

Abude confirmed this but he denied knowing the Davao Death Squad, saying it was only the media who coined the term.

“Naririnig, kasi mga media doon sila ang nagbigay, nagsasabi na death squad. ‘Pag may namamatay, sabi nila death squad,” he said.

(I’ve heard about the term because the media are the ones saying there’s a death squad. When somebody is killed, they point to the supposed death squad.)

The Ombudsman said that from 2005 to 2008, there was an “unusually high number of unsolved killings” – a total of 720 unexplained deaths – in Davao City, most of which were drug-related. Out of this number, only 321 or less than 50% of the cases were solved.

Aside from this, Abude said he faced charges for physical injury and an administrative case sometime between 2003 and 2006 for command responsibility, after two of his personnel were accused of being involved in drugs. All cases, he said, were dismissed.

Abude was head of the Heinous Crime Division from January 15, 2003 to March 8, 2006. He retired from service in January 2013 and was hired by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio as consultant of the Civil Security Unit despite having no experience in the said department.

Abude was mentioned by witness Edgar Matobato in previous hearings as one of those present in the meeting to plot the killing of alleged terrorist Sali Makdum. Matobato also alleged that Abude was a member of the death squad. Abude denied both accusations. (READ: ‘Killed for no reason’: Matobato’s claims on the Davao Death Squad)

Investigation into killings?

The anti-graft body also said that “the killings were repeatedly committed within the areas of jurisdiction of respondents’ precincts where they were assigned.”

“From the foregoing figures, it is evident that respondents were remiss in their duty to significantly reduce the number of killings. Also, the same shows that respondents failed to solve a substantial number, if not all, of the killings,” the ruling said.

De Lima asked Abude: “Tama po ba statistics na nalaman ng Office of the Ombudsman? (Are the statistics obtained by the Office of the Ombudsman correct?)”

“‘Di ko alam, ma’am (I don’t know, ma’am),” Abude responded.

But De Lima was keen on finding out the answer. “Anong klaseng kaso ang iniimbestigahan ninyo? Napakaganda ng pangalan, Heinous Crime section. (What kinds of cases were you investigating under the Heinous Crime section?) Murder should be heinous crime. There are 720 persons murdered according to Ombudsman in just 4 years. Did you investigate those?”

At this point, Abude asked that he be allowed to seek the advice of his legal counsel.

After consulting with his lawyer, Abude said all cases he handled were “properly investigated” but the killings remain pending due to lack of witnesses.

“I was assigned during that period, 2006, as station commander of Kalinan police station and all cases that transpired in my jurisdiction were properly investigated. Only your honor, it turned out no witnesses [have] come out in the open that’s why it is still pending,” Abude said.

But De Lima said Abude should know the number of cases in question. 

“You were one of the respondents, you should know how many cases exactly were there. I rest my case,” De Lima said, ending her questioning of the retired police officer.

De Lima first investigated the alleged DDS killings in 2009, when she was still chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights. When she was appointed Justice Secretary under the Aquino administration, she launched a public probe into the same matter, which did not sit well with Duterte.

De Lima then launched a Senate probe into the spate of extrajudicial killings under Duterte. However, she was ousted as justice committee chairperson after she presented Matobato as witness.

Abude, for his part, admitted knowing Matobato, saying the witness is a relative of a former colleague, Eduardo Matobato, in the Davao City police. – Rappler.com