Matobato’s credibility

Jude Josue Sabio

EDGAR Matobato personally knows the numerous factual details testified upon by him, because he was recruited by Digong codenamed “Charlie Mike” to be a member of the original “Lambada Boys” which later became the Davao Death Squad with members reaching up to 300 to date.

His reputation as a hitman is confirmed by no less than Bato de la Rosa who said that he heard about Matobato as a “tirador” in Davao.  Matobato’s reputation precedes him.  As elicited by Sen. Trillanes in his questioning, Matobato testified that he has documentary evidence of his being a contractual employee of Davao City.  He has an appointment paper and identification card.

That Bato de la Rosa does not personally Matobato is quite understandable, because as explained by Matobato, his police handlers and superiors, notably SPO4 Arthur Lascanas, instead directly dealt and talked with de la Rosa as then head of the PAOCTF.

Normally, a hitman like Matobato assumes a low-profile character, precisely in order not to attract public attention, especially from the police.  A real hitman merely tags along his boss and blindly executes a hit.  His duty is just to kill.  Once he identifies the target, he kills, no questions asked.  It is not necessary for him to talk to de la Rosa, because that is the job of his handlers like SPO4 Lascanas who is said to be the “most powerful police in Davao City” before whom even the generals would bow.

Atty. Panelo attacked Motabato’s credibility, claiming that the latter could not even identify his victims.  But Matobato testified on several hits, in which he described the victims.  Although not by specific names, Matobato was able to recall his victims in some cases.

Panelo might bother to look at the film “Bangkok Dangerous,” if he has not seen it before.  He will find the hitman in that film portayed by Nicolas Cage executing several targets in Bangkok. In that film, only a large photograph showing the target’s face is shown to him for identification.  After immediately committing to memory the target’s face, the hitman immediately burns the photograph. The hitman never asked for the name of the target.

In the real world, a hitman does not go by the name, but by the physical appearance of the victim. As credibly testified by Matobato, when his group operates at a given moment, they identify the target by the color of his shirt, shoes and other identifying apparel.

The proper identification of the target is for the police to do after the victim’s fall. Motabato is a self-confessed hitman.  Although he was a “15-30” or “ghost contractual employee” at Davao City Hall, specifically connected with the Heinous Crime Unit/Section of the Davao Police, he was a hitman, not a policeman. He was a “gun-for-hire” precisely hired, allegedly by Digong codenamed “Charlie Mike.”

It is too much for Panelo to require Matobato to recall the  names of all his victims.  Matobato testified to the killing of 50 victims for Charlie Mike. For a hitman, killing is just a routine job. It is not something that he personally cherishes in his memory.  In fact, Matobato testified that he is bothered by his conscience.

For Matobato as a hitman, it does not matter what the name of his victim is.  What is important for him is that he is able to do his job to comply with the job order of his boss and his cohorts.

Besides, as testified by Matobato, the DDS mostly killed small nameless folks like chickens in the thousand in Davao.  All the more it did not interest him to know their names.

What he said was that they killed them, just chopped their bodies, slashed their tummies, threw their bodies into the sea or buried them in a mass grave in the Ma-a quarry or at the Gaisano lot.  He even testified that their pumpboat would load 50 nameless dead bodies at  a time to dump them into the sea.

But in certain incidents, he recalled the victims due to their prominence or the peculiar circumstances. Take for example the abduction and murder of the four Nograles supporters, including the barangay chairwoman, the murder of a man allegedly ordered by Paolo Duterte to be killed because of a prior altercation, and the murder of a man by feeding him alive to a crocodile in Digos where now NBI Director was allegedly part of the group.

In the case of the Nograles supporters, two of the four corpses thrown into the sea failed to sink to the bottom of the sea, because they got caught up somewhere in the sea.  A fisherman found the corpses, triggering a police investigation.  Matobato was suspected of having something to do with the death and was subjected to investigation, because he was the caretaker of a nearby resort in the area.

Sen. Lacson attempted to puncture Matobato’s credibility, by pointing out a minor, innocuous detail.  Lacson doubted the story of Matobato about the abduction and murder of a certain Makdul who was allegedly a known international terrorist.

Lacson pointed out that the PAOCTF was no longer in existence in 2002, which is contrary to Matobato’s claim that he along with his group abducted Makdul and brought him to then PAOCTF chief de la Rosa in 2002.

Like any witness, a simple hitman like Matobato cannot be expected to know in all accuracy all the details of his factual narrative. Lapses in memory can happen as a witness testifies.  A minor lapse can even indicate that the witness is not being coached.

A memory lapse pertaining to the year is minor and harmless. The fact is that Matobato testified that he was part of the abducting group when they brought Makdul to the office of then PAOCTF chief de Rosa, and later they brought Makdul to the Ma-a quarry where they killed him.  It was SPO4 Lascanas who allegedly talked with Bato de la Rosa.

Whether it was in 2001 or 2002 is not important.  What is important is that this incident actually happened, according to Matobato. As long as this incident actually happened, the matter of the year when it happened is just a matter to be corrected as mere lapse or error in memory of the witness. In fact, Matobato said that “nalilito lang siguro ako sa date,” which is quite understandable.

During the time of Erap, the vehicle of Chavit Singson was blocked somewhere in Malate by elements of the PAOCTF.  Singson sensed a plot to assassinate him, which forced him, as a matter of survival, to come out and testify against Erap which eventually led to Erap’s fall from power. Even if he himself was a self-confessed jueteng conspirator, Singson was believed by the Sandiganbayan when it convicted Erap for plunder.

As testified by Matobato, a self-confessed hitman who has 50 kills in his record, he fears for his life. That all-consuming fear is justified, because he personally knows the name of the killing game. He was tortured by his former cohorts for one week but luckily was allowed to go scot-free. He went into hiding for quite a time until he finally sought refuge with the CHR and later with the DOJ.

Matobato is a man conscious of his peril at any time like a dead man walking.  As such, his word is like that coming from a man in the verge of death, or a man conscious of an impending death who has no motive except to tell the whole truth. Atty. Panelo or anyone for that matter should not philosophize deeply about his motive.

It is simple to see the motive of a man fearful of his death from the hands of his former colleagues. It is like seeing the sun shining every morning in the east. Precisely, his motive is to tell nothing but the truth about Charlie Mike and his alleged terrible handiwork, the now infamous Davao Death Squad.  For Matobato, it is better to die telling the truth than to be silenced forever with the truth buried with him in his grave.

The other truth is that Charlie Mike, a former prosecutor, is unusually silent which is inconsistent for an innocent man who will at the first instance declare his innocence, what with his penchant to  say “I will kill you” as if it is fashionable to say it in public.  Whether he will be destroyed in an upheaval will just be part of the collateral damage of the ugly truth that will surely hurt him and his family.