After 10 years in hiding, former Davao Death Squad (DDS) hitman Edgar Matobato fled the country with a new name, The New York Times reported. His next mission: to testify before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against his former boss Rodrigo Duterte, for whom he said he killed people for more than two decades.
The story, published January 5, follows Matobato, a self-confessed member of the vigilante group, DDS, as he leaves the Philippines with his wife and two stepchildren. “The New York Times is not identifying his whereabouts for his security,” the article notes, as Matobato believes that breaking the “omertà” or code of silence of the DDS would make him a target.
Matobato first confessed to vigilante killings in 2014 and reportedly went into hiding after. However, following investigations into the Duterte administration’s war on drugs and extrajudicial killings, Matobato appeared before the Senate in September 2016 to give his testimony, assisted by then-Senator and Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee Chairperson Leila de Lima. In the same year, De Lima was on Matobato’s kill list for investigating deaths in Davao linked to the DDS between 1988 and 2016 — the period of Duterte’s on-and-off tenure as mayor.
Former Henchmen Turned Witnesses
In 2017, Arturo Lascañas, Matobato’s “handler” and a senior police officer during Duterte’s term as Davao City mayor, also confessed to his part in the DDS after previously coming to Duterte’s defense in the hearings a year prior. “Not too long ago, Mr. Lascañas quietly left the Philippines and came under the protection of the I.C.C.,” The New York Times reported. He is one of two other DDS members who escaped overseas under the protection of the intergovernmental organization and international tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
With limited immunity granted by the ICC, Lascañas has also gone into hiding, only re-appearing for an online press briefing in January 2024. “Wala na siya [Duterte] sa power ngayon. At pangalawa, naging witness na ako sa kanyang kaso sa crimes against humanity sa ICC. So, kailangan na mag-matapang ako na lalabas at lalabas, at hahamunin ko talaga itong halimaw ng Davao, kung sino sa amin ang nagsa-sabi ng totoo,” he told reporters.
Prior to Matobato’s escape from the Philippines with a new identity, he and his family lived in a Catholic church compound under the protection of priests. Two priests, who negotiated his escape from the country, reportedly accompanied the family on their flight to Dubai — a layover — and then to an undisclosed final destination.
On a TeleRadyo Serbisyo show on January 7, De Lima confirmed that Matobato is the latest DDS member to be placed under the protective custody of the ICC after it considered and vetted his testimony in its drug war probe.
The Bureau of Immigration said it would investigate Matobato’s exit from the country. Describing the former hitman’s pre-flight process upon leaving the country, The New York Times said, “The immigration officer had no questions, and Mr. Matobato’s new passport received an exit stamp.”
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told the Malacañang Press Corps that the Palace had nothing to do with Matobato’s escape adding that they neither encouraged nor discouraged him from giving his testimony at the ICC’s drug war trial, which still has no date.
