'I had my brothers killed': Duterte 'once paid me to kill criminals', ex-cop says as death squad probe continues

Revelations from a former police officer who says the Philippine President paid him to kill criminals, including his own brothers, will form a key part of the probe into the nation's death squads, a human rights watchdog says.

Retired police officer Arthur Lascanas spoke out about his alleged life as a murderer when President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been nicknamed The Punisher, was his boss and the mayor of Davao city, in the country's south.

Mr Lascanas held a press conference on Monday in which he accused Mr Duterte of ordering and paying him and other members of a so-called liquidation squad to kill criminals and opponents.

Ex-cop Arthur Lascanas who used to work for Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has recounted how the leader paid people to kill. Photo: AP

Human rights lawyers who presented Mr Lascanas at the news conference said his allegations could be grounds for impeaching Mr Duterte.

Philippine Commission on Human Rights chief Jose Gascon, who is investigating allegations that Mr Duterte orchestrated murders while mayor of Davao, said the new evidence had removed "murkiness" about events in the president's past.

Presidential spokesman Martin Anadanar has rejected all the claims by what he called "a self-confessed hitman".

Former police officer Arthur Lascanas broke down at a press conference recounting his time as a hired killed. Photo: AP

"We feel that this is an important piece in clearing up what the role of then-mayor, now President, Duterte had with respect to the Davao death squads", Mr Gascon told AFP in Geneva on the sidelines of a human rights conference.

Mr Duterte has denied his administration backs unlawful killings of suspects under his deadly crackdown against illegal drugs that is feared to have killed more than 7,000 mostly drug users and petty drug pushers since he took office in June.

The evidence of the former police officer may be crucial in the probe into the death squads which is underway now. Photo: AP

The killings under the crackdown, an expansion of his anti-drug campaign when he was a longtime mayor of southern Davao city, have alarmed the United States, other Western governments and the UN rights officials.

In many public speeches Mr Duterte has told policemen to defend themselves if drug suspects fight back and has openly threatened drug lords and dealers with death.

Mr Duterte has been accused of paying people to kill criminals and opponents when he was mayor.

Mr Lascanas' comments came after he denied to a Senate hearing last year that he had been involved in any extra-judicial killings in Davao.

He testified at the inquiry last October after he was implicated by another witness, Edgar Matobato, a former militiaman who said Mr Duterte ordered him and others to kill criminals in gangland-style assaults that left hundreds of people dead.

Breaking into tears at one point, Mr Lascanas said he was speaking up because he was bothered by his conscience, including his role in the deaths of his two brothers, whom he ordered killed because they were drug users.

"I had my own two brothers killed. Even if I end up dead, I'm content because I've fulfilled my promise to the lord to make a public confession," he said.

The Philippine President has been accused of hiring people to kills criminals Photo: AP

The rights commission had previously investigated claims that while mayor Mr Duterte commanded hitmen in Davao who killed more than a thousand petty criminals.

When that probe ended in 2012, Mr Gascon said his office recommended that charges be brought but prosecutors did not act.

The commission does not have the power to bring cases itself but Mr Gascon voiced hope that the criminal justice system would act if the inquiry uncovered evidence to justify charges.

The commission reopened its investigation late last year after Mr Duterte, who was elected president in May, boasted that he had killed criminals years ago.

He has over the years variously denied and confirmed the existence of a Davao death squad.

But Mr Duterte's political rise has made the investigation and witness protection increasingly difficult, Mr Gascon said.

"We are of course extremely concerned about possible reprisals upon [whistleblowers] because the mayor is now president of the country," Mr Gascon said, while encouraging more people to come forward.

The Philippines' main witness protection scheme is run by the justice department, which falls under the president's authority.

With Mr Duterte in charge the rights commission has "encountered more and more witnesses and victims who are unwilling to approach the whistleblower program," Mr Gascon said.

The commission has tried to organise alternative safeguards despite limited resources but "our small witness protection program is currently overbooked," he added.

Newsbreak – February 22