"Our job was to kill criminals like drug pushers, rapists, snatchers," Mr. Matobato said under oath, adding some of the targets were not criminals but opponents of Mr. Duterte and one of his sons in Davao city. Mr. Duterte has accused Ms. de Lima of involvement in illegal drugs, alleging that she used to have a driver who took money from detained drug lords. The hearing was briefly halted so senators could discuss how to provide security for Mr. Matobato because of the explosive nature of his allegations. There was no immediate reaction from Mr. Duterte, who has denied any role in extra-judicial killings when he was the longtime mayor of Davao and after he assumed the presidency in June. “They were killed like chickens,” said Mr. Matobato, who added he backed away from the killings after feeling guilty and entered a government witness-protection programme.

Source: The Hindu September 15, 2016 05:48 UTC