MALACAÑANG on Wednesday welcomed decisions from a Panabo City court ordering the arrest warrant for self-confessed Davao Death Squad member Edgar Matobato and a man identified as Sonny Custodio for kidnapping.
“Mr. Matobato is a self-confessed assassin and kidnapper. He admitted his crimes in full view of the public,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
He added: “It is to be expected that cries of political persecution would be raised by the opposition, and others who have vested interests in destabilizing the administration.
“However, the long arm of the law has finally caught up with Matobato and demonstrates that though the wheels of justice in the Philippines grind rather slow, [they] eventually catch up.”
The arrest order came after the National Bureau of Investigation-11 filed cases against the self-confessed hitman in connection with the kidnapping of Sali Makdum, a Turkish national in Samal, whom Matobato claimed to have killed in 2002.
Matobato admitted in a Senate inquiry he participated in the abduction and murder of Makdum, whom he described as a terrorist.