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Bishop: Davao death squad ‘members’ willing to testify on killings


MANILA, Philippines - The shroud of secrecy surrounding the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) may finally be broken as some former members have expressed willingness to come out. Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla said at least one former member of the DDS has fled the group and now wishes to testify. “There are witnesses willing to testify as long as the church would guarantee their safety," Capalla said in an article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Web site. He also noted that while fear has been holding back some witnesses, potential witnesses have approached his priests and voiced willingness to testify. But in the meantime, he lamented the apathy of Davao City residents to “summary killings" there is a reflection of people's loss of trust in the justice system. Capalla said he was saddened to see such apathy, noting that people have found it acceptable to bypass the remedies provided by the justice system. “Surely, of course, the local government can be blamed for tolerating it (the killings). Who is responsible for keeping the peace and for implementing the law, aren’t the law enforcers? But they seem to allow it for people to take the law into their own hands. And if you have people taking the law into their hands, they are responsible, are they not?" he said. He said that for traders, most of them Chinese, they do not care how the peace is kept, as long as there is “peace." Yet, he said such type of peace comes at the expense of the law and the people. Capalla said he can’t understand why they (businessmen) would rather have a "Wild, Wild West and a Dirty Harry (tact) just to keep the city peaceful." “They (victims) are not professionals. Some of them have been killed outside the Catholic Church in Sta. Ana. Most of them were ordinary people," he noted. Reiterating earlier media reports, Capalla said most of the victims were suspected to have been involved in the illegal drugs trade or just drug users. - GMANews.TV
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