De Lima: 'Davao Model' resembles Davao Death Squad's reward system
MANILA, Philippines — The "Davao Model," which allegedly involves rewarding police officers with cash for each drug suspect killed, mirrors the reward system of the notorious Davao Death Squad (DDS), former Senator Leila de Lima said on Tuesday, October 22.
Speaking as a resource person at the House quadcom’s ninth hearing on extrajudicial killings during the drug war, De Lima presented past findings showing that the practice of rewarding individuals for arbitrary killings dates back to former President Rodrigo Duterte's first term as Davao City mayor.
The "Davao Model" was first referenced by retired police chief Royina Garma in her sworn statement, where she revealed that Duterte had asked her to find a police officer or operative who could replicate the model on a national scale.
She confirmed with lawmakers that cash rewards ranged from P20,000 to as much as P1 million per drug suspect killed.
The DDS reward system, on the other hand, was reported to have paid police officers, assassins and civilian informants up to P15,000 in total.
These findings come from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), part of which De Lima uncovered during her tenure as the agency's chairperson from 2008 to 2010.
The former senator later served as justice secretary under the Aquino III administration, where she continued the investigation into the DDS reward system.
According to De Lima's presentation, from 1988 to 2000 in Davao City, two groups received rewards for killing named suspects: the police handlers and the assassins.
Assassins were paid two-thirds of the total reward, receiving P10,000 of the P15,000 allocated per kill, while police handlers received P5,000.
Duterte served as Davao City's vice mayor from 1986 to 1987. He was then elected mayor in 1988, holding the position until 1998. During the period covered by the CHR's findings, Duterte was a congressman representing Davao City's first district.
De Lima said that the assassins were initially composed of "rebel returnees," while the handlers were active police officers. Their safehouse was stationed at the National Police Commission’s compound in Barangay San Pedro, Davao, she added.
“After the summary execution
