- Source: Edgar Matobato
Edgar Bernal Matobato (born 1959) is a self-confessed hitman who claims to be a former member of the Davao Death Squad or the "DDS", an alleged vigilante group tasked to summarily execute suspected criminals.
Senate hearing
Matobato gained international attention when he appeared before the Philippine Senate on September 15, 2016 during a hearing on extrajudicial killings. At the hearing, the 57-year-old assassin narrated his experiences and even revealed names of policemen he worked with in the past. He confessed that he has killed many people, including an alleged terrorist named Sali Makdum. Matobato further recounted that former Davao City Mayor now Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte once emptied an Uzi in killing a certain Hamizola, although the President has denied ties with Matobato and expressed that he doesn't know him.
Matobato says he was among the names listed under Davao city hall's civil security unit (CSU), which watched over markets, schools, and terminals to keep them safe, although he was considered a "ghost employee." From 1988 to 2013, Matobato said hundreds were killed in the 25-year span of his service to Davao's CSU. Senator Alan Peter Cayetano questioned Matobato, pointing out how in his testimonies, he changed his stance from "pretending to have personal knowledge" to "hearsay."
Arrest
On October 7, 2016, Edgar Matobato was turned over by Senator Antonio Trillanes to the Philippine National Police after an arrest warrant was issued to him.
ICC Case
On April 24, 2017, Matobato's lawyer Jude Sabio filed a 77-page complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Duterte and his subordinates titled “The Situation of Mass Murder in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte: The Mass Murderer” to its Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Aside from President Duterte, the complaint included Senators Richard Gordon and Alan Peter Cayetano, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno, PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa, Police Colonels Edilberto Leonardo, Royina Garma, and Sanson Buenaventura, NBI Director Dante A. Gierran, and Solicitor General Jose Calida.
On January 14, 2020, Sabio accompanied by Atty. Larry Gadon announced that he was withdrawing his complaint at the ICC. Sabio would claim that he withdrew as he do not wish to be a part of the politics of Senators Antonio Trillanes IV, Leila De Lima, Cong. Gary Alejano, as well as the Liberal Party against President Duterte. The ICC Projecutor Fatou Bensouda responded that Sabio's withdrawal would not affect the case, since there were 57 other communications to the ICC against Duterte.
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Edgar Matobato
- Royina Garma
- Pedro Rodrigues Filho
- International Criminal Court investigation in the Philippines
- List of contract killers and hitmen
- List of serial killers by number of victims
- List of whistleblowers
- Vicente Danao
- Philippine drug war
- Prospero Nograles
