Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said he will have his neck chopped if former Davao City police officer Arturo Lascañas can prove that Vice President Sara Duterte was involved in “Oplan Tokhang” when she was still mayor in 2012.
“I can only say one thing. What he said now—a new version in which he linked Inday Sara to Tokhang—I will have my neck cut off,” said Dela Rosa.
Lascañas, an alleged member of the original Davao Death Squad, submitted a 186-page affidavit to the ICC where he detailed the younger Duterte’s alleged involvement in Tokhang-related killings.
Duterte denied the allegations and dared her accusers to file formal charges in connection to their allegations.
“In the years that I served as Vice Mayor and Mayor of Davao City, my name was never once associated with this issue. Suddenly there was a witness against me when I was elected Vice President. Now I am one of the accused in the International Criminal Court. It is evident that my name was intentionally linked to this matter to implicate me in the ICC,” she said, noting the timing of the accusations.
Lascanas said the then-mayor Duterte ordered Dela Rosa, who was then Davao City police chief, to kidnap and bury all drug pushers in the city.
He also claimed it was Senator Christopher Go who provided a list of targets.
Dela Rosa said Lascañas already made the same accusations more than six years ago, but without the name of the Vice President.
“His new version is no longer the truth,” Dela Rosa said.
Go also rejected Lascañas’ allegations, calling it “rehashed, old music, rotten style.”
Despite the denials, the Makabayan bloc is set to file anytime next week a resolution urging the leadership of the House of Representatives to investigate the alleged involvement of Duterte in the “Oplan Tokhang” in Davao City.
House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas underscored the need for Congress to step in to assess and determine legislation necessary to address the extrajudicial killings committed during the past administration.
The DDS was a vigilante group that allegedly carried out summary killings of suspected criminals, including drug dealers, in Davao City. Sara Duterte was vice mayor of the city from 2007-2010 and mayor from 2010 to 2013.