Matobato under ‘protective custody’ of ICC – De Lima

MANILA, Philippines — Self-confessed Davao death squad (DDS) hitman Edgar Matobato is now under the protective custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC), former senator Leila de Lima said yesterday.

In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, De Lima said Matobato left the Philippines in the second quarter of 2024 because the ICC prosecutor was trying to access him for its ongoing investigation on the Duterte administration’s drug war and killings by the DDS.

“Initially, the ICC was not trying to access him. Eventually they did, that’s why he had to leave in order make it easier for the ICC to access him,” she said in Filipino.

Like another self-confessed DDS member, hitman Arturo Lascañas, De Lima said Matobato is “under the protective custody now of the ICC in an undisclosed location.”

The New York Times over the weekend published an article detailing how Matobato, his wife and two stepchildren were able to leave the Philippines using fake identities and travel documents. The report did not disclose or specify when they left the country.
“Mr. Matobato had managed to obtain a new identity with a new passport and a new job description: gardener,” wrote Bangkok-based Times reporter Hannah Beech.

De Lima said she is not aware if Matobato has received limited immunity from ICC prosecution like Lascañas.

But she stressed that both their claims have been scrutinized by the ICC prosecutor.

“ICC vetted both already. It accepted (their testimonies),” De Lima added.

De Lima, a former justice secretary and chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), was the first to present Matobato as a witness against Duterte during a Senate committee on justice and human rights investigation that she led in September 2016.

During that hearing, Matobato detailed alleged activities of the DDS in the Davao region and highlighted similarities in the killings related to Duterte’s drug war.

In 2017, Matobato’s lawyer, Jude Josue Sabio, filed a complaint before the ICC in The Hague against Duterte and 11 other officials for alleged crimes against humanity in the course of a nationwide crackdown on drugs.

De Lima, who led investigations into the DDS while she was CHR chair in 2009,