Edgar Matobato ‘currently safe’ after fleeing Philippines

MANILA, Philippines – Edgar Matobato, the self-confessed hitman who alleged that former president Rodrigo Duterte had a death squad in Davao City, fled the Philippines after “persistent death threats” but is “currently safe” in an undisclosed location, a trusted source with knowledge of the arrangements told Rappler on Wednesday, January 8.

Matobato has already given a deposition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which wanted “to secure his statements and testimonies,” the same source said but it is unclear at this point what his status is to the Court. Matobato’s affidavit was among the first communications filed with the ICC that resulted in a now seven-year running investigation. Matobato’s fellow self-confessed hitman, Arturo Lascañas, has been offered limited immunity by the ICC.

Reacting to a New York Times article that detailed his escape, the Bureau of Immigration said it will look into the circumstances of Matobato’s departure from the Philippines.

Matobato has been in hiding since 2017, when a warrant of arrest was issued against him for an alleged kidnapping incident in 2002, a non-bailable charge.

The source said Matobato is “fit and well” and considers a foreign country “most safe” where Duterte is not “influential.” The ICC investigation into Duterte’s war on drugs and the Davao Death Squad is at a stage where Prosecutor Karim Khan can already request for warrants or summons, if he has not already done so. Under ICC rules, judges must approve this request. These two layers can be publicized or kept confidential, even lasting years, to ensure optimum efficiency in enforcing.

The ICC’s investigation on the Philippines is feared to be threatened if the US Congress passes a bill that would sanction Court officials who would try to enforce its orders. Although the bill covers the US primarily, the sanctions will benefit “any protected person of the United States and its allies.” Allies in the bill cover even major non-NATO allies such as the Philippines. Filipino advocates, led by former Philippine senator Leila de Lima, has written members of the US Congress to appeal to reject the bill.

Matobato was the first to blow the whistle on Duterte and the Davao Death Squad (DDS) as a primary witness for the 2016 Senate hearings then led by De Lima, before she was incarcerated. Lascañas, initially denying Matobato’s claims, turned around the following year.

In a post on X, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV shared the role of the late former president Benigno Aquino III in securing Matobato’s life. “One of the last acts of PNoy as president was to ensure the safety of Edgar Matobato, (who was under the NBI Witness Protection Program at that time) before the assumption of Duterte as president in 2016.”

“He directed a trusted senior government official to facilitate Matobato’s transfer of custody to a senior member of the Catholic church. This act of PNoy saved Matobato’s life,” said Trillanes. – Rappler.com