Edgar Matobato, a former hitman for the Davao Death Squad, tells his story of how he went from killing people on orders to becoming a fugitive seeking redemption. His testimony exposed a dark side of the Philippines, highlighting the country's complex relationship with violence, power, and justice.
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article. OLD ASSASIN. Edgar Matobato at the Dambana ng Paghilom, a memorial to extrajudicial killings at the La Loma Catholic Cemetery. Before he fled the Philippines , he met with families of EJK victims and promised to help give them closure.Part 1: 'In the beginning, I thought we were helping people by getting rid of the bad guys,' says Edgar Matobato. 'Later, we were told to kill innocent people.
'. Since 2014, when he was detained and brutally tortured by his former comrades, Matobato has been on the run. For ten years, an unlikely network kept him alive: Catholic clergy who believed in his redemption, former military mutineers who shielded him, and, at one point, the security detail of an outgoing president. Together, they helped him evade the powerful forces intent on silencing him.. With his wife at his side, he assumed a new identity, slipped through airports under cover, and landed in an unnamed country. It is an indefinite stop on his way to theHis journey, from a recruit into a brutal profession, to whistleblower, to fugitive, is a remarkable tale that mirrors the country’s complex relationship with violence, power — and redemption. When I first met Matobato on a balmy Christmas morning in 2016, I couldn’t help but wonder how long an improvised, clandestine witness protection program could keep him safe. Only three months earlier, he had electrified the nation with his testimony before the Philippine Senate. On live television, Matobato confessed to serving as a hitman for the Davao Death Squad for 24 years. He detailed how, on Duterte’s orders, he had killed suspected criminals and disposed of their bodies in horrific ways — dumped on streets, fed to crocodiles, or buried in a quarry. Those were the early days of Duterte’s presidency. Each night, bloody corpses littered the streets of Manila. Empowered by the president’s rhetoric, the police killed with impunity, while hooded gunmen executed small-time drug dealers in the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Until Matobato stepped forward, the shadowy world of death squads and contract killers was largely invisible to the public. His testimony ripped away that veil. He described, in chilling detail, how police and local officials organized, financed, and directed these squads. His revelations exposed a hidden ecosystem sustained by the brokenness of our country: its dysfunctional justice system, the desperation of the poor, and the unchecked hubris of powerful men who believe brute force is the cure for social ills.I spoke with Matobato in a secluded Catholic compound, a haven of quiet far removed from the chaos of Manila. Fruit trees swayed in the breeze, birdsong filled the air, and a stream murmured softly through the grounds. Father Albert Alejo, a Jesuit priest and an old friend, had asked if I could drive him there to say Christmas Mass for the former hitman and his wife. The couple lived in a modest cottage tucked away in the compound. They were under the care of a religious order and watched over by two men who kept a discreet but constant vigil. These men, I was told, were fromMatobato greeted us warmly. Short, stocky, and sturdily built, he wore checkered Bermuda shorts and a gray T-shirt. His voice was soft, his manner polite, even solicitous, not at all what you would expect of a hitman., the night before. It was too early to eat, so we sat on benches in the open air. I turned on my recorder and asked him to tell me his story. “My name is Edgar Matobato,” he began in Tagalog. “I was born in Calinan, Tamayong, Davao City, on June 11, 1959. I am 57. I was a farmer in our barangay.” It was around 1977, he said, when his father, a member of the Civilian Home Defense Force (CHDF), was killed by communist guerrillas. “They wanted his gun. My father told them, ‘If you need my gun, I will give it to you as long as you do not hurt my family.’” But his father’s plea fell on deaf ears. “Four men held my father down and cut off his head,” Matobato said matter-of-factly. “Then they placed the head on a wooden stake, like a flagpole.” He watched as his father’s headless body staggered and fell to the ground. Confirming Matobato’s account is difficult. A former communist cadre active in Davao during that time said government forces used beheadings as a form of psychological terror. The guerrillas retaliated with killings of their own, he said, but their methods were different — they typically used guns or knives to sever the jugular vein; they did not cut off heads. Still, Matobato has told the story of his father’s beheading many times — not just to me, but to others who have sought to piece together the fragments of his life. Even when asked again through an intermediary, his account never wavered. Whether or not it can be independently verified, this is Matobato’s truth — the defining moment that, in his eyes, shaped the trajectory of his lif
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