{"id":90450,"date":"2017-02-20T19:19:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T00:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=90450"},"modified":"2017-02-20T19:19:34","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T00:19:34","slug":"doj-urged-to-file-perjury-charges-vs-lascanas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/02\/20\/doj-urged-to-file-perjury-charges-vs-lascanas-2\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ urged to file perjury charges vs Lasca\u00f1as"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sen.<\/a>
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Lasca\u00f1as has \u201cmade a mockery of the solemn proceedings of the Senate\u201d by admitting to lying under oath before the Senate Justice Committee during the October 2016 hearings.
(Photo: Senator Win Gatchalian\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA\u2014A Senator on Monday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file perjury charges against retired SPO3 Arthur Lasca\u00f1as for recanting his earlier testimony in a Senate hearing denying the existence of the so-called vigilante group Davao Death Squad (DDS).<\/p>\n

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Lasca\u00f1as has \u201cmade a mockery of the solemn proceedings of the Senate\u201d by admitting to lying under oath before the Senate Justice Committee during the October 2016 hearings.<\/p>\n

“He should be made to pay for the grave disrespect he has shown to this institution,” Gatchalian said.<\/p>\n

Lasca\u00f1as, in a press conference Monday, said his conscience led him to back the claim of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato that the death squad was real.<\/p>\n

In a Senate inquiry into extrajudicial killings held on September 2016, it was Matobato who claimed that DDS was formed when Pres. Rodrigo Duterte was then Davao City Mayor.<\/p>\n

Matobato said the group was allegedly responsible for killings of both criminals and non-criminals in Davao City from 1988 to 2013.<\/p>\n

In another hearing, on October 2016, over 10 policemen from Davao City including Lasca\u00f1as, however, debunked Matobato’s claim on the existence of DDS.<\/p>\n

This time, Lasca\u00f1as claimed that cops were paid PHP20,000 to PHP100,000 to carry out the killings.<\/p>\n

He also named several other cops who were members of the DDS and cited a series of killings they did, including the killing of radio commentator Jun Pala and his own two brothers involved in the illegal drug trade, Cecilio and Fernando Lasca\u00f1as.<\/p>\n

Gatchalian said that he found Lasca\u00f1as\u2019 claims \u201chard to believe\u201d considering his earlier testimony was completely different.<\/p>\n

“Personally, I find it hard to believe the incredible alternative facts that Lasca\u00f1as is now asserting. After all, he was singing a completely different tune just a few months ago,\u201d Gatchalian said.<\/p>\n

The neophyte senator said that unless Lasca\u00f1as can provide actual concrete evidence, he would \u201cnot rely too much on this retired cop’s tall tales.”<\/p>\n

“…It is clear that there are serious doubts about his integrity and the credibility for his new testimony,” he added.<\/p>\n

The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), which served as Lasca\u00f1as\u2019 legal counsel, meanwhile said that their client will speak again at the proper forum such as a Senate inquiry where he can take his oath.<\/p>\n

FLAG lawyer Jose Manuel \u2018Chel\u2019 Diokno, who is also primary legal counsel of Sen. Leila De Lima and dean of the De LaSalle University College of Law, said that Lasca\u00f1as\u2019 admission was \u201cvoluntary.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that Lasca\u00f1as and De Lima had \u201cnothing to do with each other\u201d despite being legal counsel of both of them. It was De Lima who invited Matobato as \u201csurprise witness\u201d during an inquiry into alleged extrajudicial killings last Sept 2016.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Lascanas’ complete turnaround could be “part of a protracted political drama aimed to destroy the President and to topple his administration.”<\/p>\n

“Our people are aware that this character assassination is nothing but vicious politics orchestrated by sectors affected by the reforms initiated by the Duterte administration. The Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Senate Committee on Justice already cleared the President of extrajudicial killing and his involvement in the Davao Death Squad,” Andanar said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u2014A Senator on Monday urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file perjury charges against retired SPO3 Arthur Lasca\u00f1as for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":86252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,1145,16,95],"tags":[15499,10823,3466],"class_list":["post-90450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-arthur-lascanas","tag-davao-death-squad","tag-department-of-justice","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}