Arturo Lascañas, who confessed to numerous murders on Duterte’s orders while part of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), flew unhindered to Singapore on Saturday.
“I have received threats that a lawsuit would be filed against me, and there are also people looking for me,” the retired cop said in an interview with The Inquirer.
Despite his self-confessed crimes, Lascañas left the country perfectly legally after filling out all the relevant paperwork. The Bureau of Immigration has confirmed that there was no ‘hold departure order’ or ‘lookout bulletin’ issued against him.
As we reported in February, Lascañas caused a sensation when he confessed that he was a leading member of the DDS who had even killed his own brothers out of loyalty to then Mayor Duterte.
The testimony was at odds with his flat denial to senators the previous year, and followed allegations made by another self-confessed DDS member, Edgar Matobato.
Lascañas said he lied when he first appeared before the Senate, because he was afraid for his family’s safety.
By the time of his second testimony, he was being assisted by lawyers from the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) with the support of opposition senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Since this time, Lascañas has lived in hiding, before he was helped to flee the country on Saturday.
The Malacañang has stridently denied all of the DDS allegations, saying they are part of a plot to “destroy the president and topple his administration”.
Lascañas is now living in rented accommodation in Singapore.
He told The Inquirer that staying in the Philippines was impossible. “I am sure, I might either be jailed or killed. It’s just one of the two possibilities.
“But for me, I know God has a plan and that would be my destiny for telling the truth. I have accepted that.
“But all that will be overcome by one’s faith. To me, God is my guide. I know He will not abandon me.”
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