Matillano denied Matobato’s testimony on slain cops, Lacson says

Retired police Director Eduardo Matillano has denied confessed hitman Edgar Matobato's statement that he appointed policemen to be part of Speaker Prospero Nograles' security, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Friday.

In a statement, Lacson said Matillano refuted the testimony of Matobato in a Senate inquiry that some of his men detailed to Nograles were kidnapped and killed back in 2010.

“General Matillano later texted me to flatly reject Matobato’s testimony that he had people detailed with Nograles since starting 2009, he was already detailed with the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group and that unit wasn’t assigning people outside their unit,” Lacson said.

Lacson and Matillano were classmates in the Philippine Military Academy Class of ‘71.

Last week, Matobato claimed President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the kidnapping and killing of Nograles’ bodyguards.

On Thursday, however, Matobato changed his tune saying: “Hindi tao ni Nograles. Tao ni General Palparan at Matillan.”

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who secured the safety of Matobato before he appeared in the Senate, clarified that the men of Palparan and Matillano supported Nograles, which Matobato confirmed.

Lacson said such statements, on top of other supposed inconsistencies, are making him question the testimony of Matobato.

He also pointed out how Matobato would often look at Trillanes and Senator Leila de Lima before he responded to questions during the hearing.

It was De Lima who presented Matobato as a witness to the Senate justice committee in her capacity as chair then. She was ousted to the post earlier this week for her supposed bias of handling the investigation on drug-related killings.

“It was very noticeable how he would occasionally look to the direction of Senators de Lima and Trillanes almost each time before he would respond to questions by the senators,” Lacson said.

“I’m not sure anymore which in his testimony is true or not. I’m sorry for him as well as for my two colleagues,” the senator added. —NB, GMA News