Davao Death Squad
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The Davao Death Squad (DDS) is a
death squad A death squad is an armed group whose primary activity is carrying out extrajudicial killings, massacres, or enforced disappearances as part of political repression, genocide, ethnic cleansing, or revolutionary terror. Except in rare cases in w ...
group in
Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...
, Philippines. The group is alleged to have conducted
summary execution In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, a ...
s of street children and individuals suspected of petty crimes and drug dealing. It has been estimated that the group is responsible for the killing or disappearance of between 1,020 and 1,040 people between 1998 and 2008. A 2009 report by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) noted stonewalling by local police under the mayorship of
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
while a leaked cable observed a lack of public outrage among Davao residents.


Victims

According to
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
and local human rights groups, death squads killed over 300 people in Davao City between 1998 and 2005. The rate of killing accelerated after this. Between 2005 and 2008, death squads were responsible for between 700 and 720 executions. In a 2009 report by
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, the victims were mostly alleged drug dealers, petty criminals, and street children. Amnesty International states that killings and extrajudicial executions, particularly of criminal suspects, continued throughout the year. In Mindanao many such killings, including those of minors, were attributed to the so-called "Davao Death Squad" vigilante group. It was reported that local officials in some areas advocated a "shoot to kill" policy with respect to criminal suspects
resisting arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be Interroga ...
. Retired Policeman Arthur Lascañas, a self-confessed leader of DDS, claims that the group was responsible for mosque bombings and the killing of a journalist during its heyday. According to Lascañas, the squad was ordered to bomb mosques in Davao in retaliation for the San Pedro Cathedral bombing.


Origins

DDS was conceptualized by former Integrated National Police Regional Commander Dionisio Tan-Gatue Jr. to fight the New People's Army's Sparrow Unit. Tan-Gatue allegedly used the late Juan "Jun" Pala, a known anti-New People's Army propagandist and radio commentator, to report stories about the death squad, which allegedly curbed executions perpetrated by the Sparrow Unit. By mid-1997, the DDS were deemed responsible for more than 60 unsolved murders in the city. It is believed that the original members of the death squad included former members of the Sparrow Unit. Initially the death squad had around 10 members. This increased to around 500 by 2009.


Vigilante methods

Members of the death squad were managed by police, according to Human Rights Watch. These officers provided the assailants with training, weapons and ammunition, motorcycles, and information on the targets. Lists of targets were drawn up by police or
barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...
(village or district) officials. Information might include a name, address and a photograph. Local police stations were allegedly pre-warned to facilitate the murders and the escape of the assailants. According to testimony by Edgar Matobato in a 2016 Senate hearing he was assigned to kill certain targets that the police wanted dead such as like drug pushers, rapists, snatch thieves, etc. in the allegations. Witnesses reported that police officers took a surprisingly long time to respond to incidents, even where these occurred in the vicinity of police stations. Officers neglected to follow basic investigative procedures, such as collecting bullet casings from the street. Human Rights Watch reported that the standard tactics of the killers was to arrive in small groups of two or three on unlicensed motorbikes. Victims would be stabbed or shot without warning during daytime in public areas, such as bars, cafes, markets, shopping areas,
jeepney A jeepney (), or simply a jeep (), is a type of Public transport, public utility vehicle (PUV) that serves as the most popular means of Transportation in the Philippines, public transportation in the Philippines. Known for its crowded seating ...
s or tricycles, and in the presence of numerous witnesses. Assailants were generally paid between PHP5,000 and PHP50,000 (US$114 – US$1,147) for an assassination, depending on the target.


Public opinion

There appears to have been a certain degree of public approval among citizens of Davao City for the actions of the death squad, primarily fueled by public discontent at "the arduous and ineffective judicial system" that created an environment where extrajudicial executions seemed to be a "practical resort" to suppress crime in the city. There were subsequent reports of death squads operating in other cities, including
General Santos General Santos, officially the City of General Santos and abbreviated as GenSan, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Soccsksargen, Philippines. According to ...
, Digos, and Tagum City in
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
as well as in
Cebu City Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people, making ...
, the second largest city in the Philippines.


Official complicity

In its 2009 report, Human Rights Watch criticized authorities for failing to act against the death squads. It condemned the then president,
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...
for tolerating the lawlessness, saying that she had, "largely turned a blind eye to the killing spree in Davao City and elsewhere." In 2004, Arroyo announced
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
as her special advisor on crime, an appointment which was viewed as signifying her approval of
extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as an extrajudicial execution or an extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, ...
s. Human Rights Watch also highlighted the inaction of the Philippine National Police and national institutions such as the Department of Justice, the Ombudsman's Office, and the Commission on Human Rights. This official tolerance of vigilantism had created, they said, an environment of "widespread impunity". From 2009, Philippines government institutions periodically stated their intention to investigate the death squads. On one such occasion the National Commission on Human Rights created an inter-agency task force to look into the matter. However, no real action was forthcoming. In 2008, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Philip Alston, pointed out that the fact that the killers made no effort to hide their identity and threatened parents with the murder of their children, suggested a belief by the killers that they were immune from police action. In 2005, the deputy ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices suspended four senior police officials for six months without pay because of their failure to solve a number of vigilante killings in their area. In an official statement the deputy ombudsman said: "The inability of the respondent police officers to prevent the summary killing in Davao City is an indication of gross neglect of duty and inefficiency and incompetence in the performance of official functions." When the four officers were suspended, the mayor of Davao, Duterte, directed the four officials to file a petition for
certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of a prerogative writ in England, issued by a superior court to direct that the recor ...
, on the basis that the penalty would demoralize the police, reportedly claiming, "I have pledged to help he policeespecially when they are prosecuted for simply performing their duties," The suspension order was subsequently reversed by the Court of Appeals after the police officers filed a petition. In 2012, the Office of the Ombudsman charged 21 police officers with a charge of simple neglect of duty over the vigilante killings. The charge provided for penalties of 1-month suspension or a fine of 1 month's salary. Investigators from the Ombudsman's office found that there was an "unusually high number of unsolved killings" from 2005 to 2008 in the areas of jurisdiction of the officers' precincts. The officers ranged in seniority from police chief inspector to police senior superintendent.


“Davao Death Squad” 1998–2015 report

In 2017,
hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...
"biking" priest Amado "Picx" Picardal, CSsR, published the “Davao Death Squad” 1998-2015 report, reportedly sent to the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
. As the Coalition Against Summary Execution spokesperson, he also assisted the Commission on Human Rights and the
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
regarding the extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines investigation. He served as the Episcopal Commission of Basic Ecclesial Communities' former executive secretary. On May 29, 2024, Fr. Edilberto Cepe, provincial superior, announced the passing of Picardal, 69, of “
cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
” in Cebu City Busay Retreat House alongside Bruno, his dog, on the 47th year of his sacerdotal ministry.


Alleged involvement of Rodrigo Duterte

Former Davao City Mayor and former
president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-ch ...
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...
has been heavily criticized by numerous organizations for condoning and even inciting executions to take place during his leadership. In 2001–2002, Human Rights Watch reported that Duterte appeared on local television and radio and announced the names of "criminals", some of whom were later executed. In July 2005, at a crime summit in the
Manila Hotel The Manila Hotel is a 550-room, historic five-star hotel located along Manila Bay in Manila, Philippines.
, Duterte said, "Summary execution of criminals remains the most effective way to crush kidnapping and illegal drugs". In 2008, commenting on Duterte, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions said, "The mayor's positioning is frankly untenable: He dominates the city so thoroughly as to stamp out whole genres of crime, yet he remains powerless in the face of hundreds of murders committed by men without masks in view of witnesses." In 2009, Duterte said: "If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination." In 2009, Duterte responded to a reported arrest and subsequent release of a notorious drug lord in Manila. In 2014, referring to the arrest of a suspected rice smuggler, Duterte spoke out at a Senate hearing, saying: "If this guy would go to Davao and starts to unload (smuggled rice)… I will gladly kill him." For these comments Duterte was attacked in an editorial in ''
The Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrative offices at 2/F ...
'', which condemned "the mentality of lawlessness and vigilantism." The newspaper argued that this culture of impunity enabled those in power, including officials, "private warlords and businessmen vigilantes" to take retribution against those they felt had acted against their interests: "They kill journalists exposing corruption and human rights activists exposing abusive police and military men." In 2014, following Duterte's comments in relation to killing a person suspected of smuggling rice, the office of the President of the Philippines then under
Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Aquino III (; born Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines ...
issued a statement saying, "Killing a person is against the law. The President has been firm in the belief that no one is above the law. We must not resort to extralegal methods." In 2015, despite his earlier statements of support for the extrajudicial killing of criminals, Duterte has constantly denied any involvement in the death squad. In a January 2016 decision by the Office of the Ombudsman on the investigation conducted by the Commission on Human Rights on the alleged death squad in Davao between 2005 and 2009, the Ombudsman found no evidence to support "the killings attributed or attributable to the Davao Death Squad, much less the involvement of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte" to such acts. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said she recused herself from these investigations because of affinity with Duterte. Morales is the sister of attorney Lucas Carpio Jr., husband of Court of Appeals Justice Agnes Reyes Carpio. Agnes and Lucas are the parents of Sara Duterte's husband, Mans Carpio.
Sara Duterte Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio (, ; born May 31, 1978), commonly known as Inday Sara, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who is the 15th and current vice president of the Philippines. She is the third female vice president (after Gloria Macap ...
is President Duterte's daughter and now-mayor of Davao City. When Duterte was elected president, he appointed Vitaliano Aguirre II, a former classmate, as his secretary of the Department of Justice. Aguirre had been the former mayor's lawyer against cases linking Duterte to the death squads, and the lawyer representing a policeman who owned a quarry site turned into a firing range, where remains of supposed victims of these alleged death squads were believed to have been buried. Aguirre helped argue against the CHR's investigation of the quarry site, and had an earlier search warrant quashed. In September 2016, during the Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings, Edgar Matobato, a former member of the "Lambada Boys", later renamed the DDS, testified that then-Davao City Mayor Duterte ordered the group to bomb a mosque and to kill the Muslim brethren therein in 1993, an event that another report on this so-called bombing placed as having been perpetrated by so-called "Christian militants" eight hours after Matobato's testified-to time of the incident, with no casualties reported. Because of other inconsistencies in Matobato's allegations, Senator Panfilo Lacson invoked the legal principle of ''falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus'' (false in one, false in everything). On December 14, 2016, Senator Leila de Lima reminded the public that the president's admission to committing murder is grounds for impeachment under the Philippine's current constitution. De Lima said this in response to Duterte publicly commenting that he had killed drug suspects when he was Mayor of Davao. In March 2017, De Lima was arrested due to allegations that she was accepting bribes from prisoners while she was Justice Secretary. Many international organizations and Filipino citizens voiced their concern regarding the arrest of Senator De Lima. Since she is an outspoken critic of Duterte and his war on drugs, many believe that is why she was arrested. Duterte's administration claimed that the reason for De Lima's arrest was due to the alleged bribes she received from imprisoned drug lords in order to allow them to continue to operate behind bars, and not her opinion on Duterte. As of January 2020, the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
confirmed that an investigation into Duterte's involvement with the death squads was ongoing, despite the Philippines having withdrawn from the ICC in 2018, because it continued to have jurisdiction over crimes committed when the country was still a member. Duterte withdrew the Philippines one month after the opening of the investigation. In 2024, alleged hitman Edgar Matobato left the country with his wife and two stepchildren via identity fraud and fake passport, posing as a
garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
er. As of 2025 the former President Rodrigo Duterte is being held in the Netherlands for "Crimes against Humanity". The Internation Criminal courts has factored in the Dutere Administrations alleged role in the Davao Death squad.


Portrayal on film

A film depicting vigilante killings in the Philippines ''Engkwentro'' ("Square Off"), premiered in July 2009 at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, where it received strong reactions. The film was later selected for the 66th Venice International Film Festival where it won the Best Picture award in the Orizzonti (New Horizons) program. The film's director, Pepe Diokno, won the Luigi de Laurentiis Venice Award for a Debut Film, also known as the "Lion of the Future" prize.


Other uses of the term

The initialism DDS has been adopted by hardline civilian supporters of Duterte in order to stand for ' Diehard Duterte Supporters'. According to political science Professor and Manila Times columnist Antonio Contreras of De La Salle University, the term was adopted by Duterte supporters during the President's campaign in 2016 and used "as a rallying point to consolidate the Duterte political base."


See also

* Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davao Death Squads False allegations of sex crimes Extrajudicial killings in the Philippines Child murder in the Philippines 21st century in Davao City Rodrigo Duterte Vigilantes Philippine drug war Vigilantism against sex offenders