The embattled Senator Leila De Lima has described President Rodrigo Duterte as a “murderer.”
In a statement sent to members of the media on Thursday, De Lima said “Now we all know that the order and command to murder Espinosa in cold blood came from none other than the President himself.”
“People of the Philippines, your President is a murderer,” De Lima’s said.
Duterte said he will not allow cops who allegedly killed Espinosa go to jail. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reported that Mayor Rolando Espinosa was summarily executed in a Leyte jail.
“That is an admission that he is the mastermind of such extra-judicial killing (EJK),” according to De Lima.
“That says it all about the EJK phenomenon. Together with Edgar Matobato’s testimony on the Davao Death Squad (DDS), Duterte’s admission seals his fate as the Father of all EJKs, first in Davao City, now throughout the entire Philippines, with the number of his victims now beyond the five thousand mark, and still rising.”
De Lima said country now have a “Presidential Death Squad.” “This also means that P/Supt. Marvin Marcos et al. comprise part of the expanded DDS, which is now national in scope and operation. Nothing can be clearer than that. What we now have is a Presidential Death Squad.”
De Lima said she was not allowed to read and sign the changes in Sen. Richard Gordon’s EJK Report before it was released yesterday. “There is no more basis to dismiss Matobato’s testimony or to clear the President of his role in the EJKs. I think this also puts to a close the Senate investigation on who ordered the killing of Mayor Espinosa. Now we all know that the order and command to murder Espinosa in cold blood came from none other than the President himself.”
“God bless us all in this season of Jesus Christ’s birth, to remind us of our humanity as a religious and God-fearing people, whether as Christians or Muslims. Let us pray that our President finally sees the light and puts a stop to all the killings in time for Christmas.
“Let us pray that our President starts fearing God and respecting the gift of life in this season of love and hope.”