MANILA - Professed hitman Edgar Matobato, who linked President Rodrigo Duterte to vigilante killings in Davao City, was trained to kill, not to sort school supplies, a senator said Saturday.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV was defending Matobato from Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, who sought to discredit the gunman after he mistook packing tape for masking tape.
Matobato testified before a Senate investigation last Thursday that victims of Duterte's hit squad were wrapped in "masking tape."
"Ang skill set ng mama na ito I believe eh talagang pumatay lang, may taga-surveillance nung subject o ng target, taga-casing ng mga lugar. Sa kanya papasok lang siya, siya yung taga-ligpit, siya yung taga-chopchop. [His skill set I believe is to just kill. He has other people do the surveillance of the subject or target. His only concern is to kill and dispose of the body]," Trillanes told DZMM.
"Ang problema niya hindi naman ito bumibili ng school supplies [o] office supplies. Sa kanya basta't may gamit [The problem is Motabato doesn't buy school supplies or office supplies. His concern is to just to have something to use]," he added.
Trillanes is a vocal critic of the President while Cayetano was Duterte's vice-presidential running mate in the elections last May.
During Thursday's hearing, Cayetano asked Matobato to pick out masking tape from an array of tape adhesives. Matobato picked out packaging tape.
"Ginagamit ko lang ito [para] testingin ang credibility mo or kung may bumulong lang, may nagsabi lang sa inyo [I'm only using this to test your credibility and see if you're just being told what to say]," said Cayetano, who said Matobato may have been coached.
Motabato, however, said he thinks of all adhesive tapes as "masking tape."
"Kasi sir, ang lahat ng ito ang tingin ko masking tape, hindi ko naman alam ang pangalan sir [I think of all of these as masking tape, I don't know what their names are]," he told Cayetano.
Taking a jab at Cayetano, Trillanes told DZMM: ""Siyempre di naman maiintindihan ni Sen. Alan yan kasi ano naman siya, buena familia siya so hindi siya gaano makakarelate. [Of course Sen. Alan can't understand that because he comes from a well-off family so he can't really relate]," Trillanes said.
Trillanes said he was also disappointed with Senate President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III for refusing to grant the witness sanctuary.
"Yun na nga ang nakakalungkot and of all people ang ine-expect ko kay Sen. Pimentel as Senate president even-handed yan kaso ngayon naghahanap ng teknikalidad irereject yung testigo [That's the sad thing about it. Of all the people, I expected Sen. Pimentel to be even-handed as the Senate president but he found a technicality in order to reject the witness]," he said.
SOURCE: ABS-CBN
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