Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 10) — A self-confessed hitman who has tagged President Rodrigo Duterte in alleged extrajudicial killings when he was mayor, has left the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) confirmed Monday.
Arthur Lascañas flew to Singapore on April 8, said immigration spokesperson Tonette Mangrobang.
A passenger named Arthur B. Lascañas presented himself for immigration departure clearance at about 5:01 p.m. on Saturday, said Mangrobang quoting a report from Port Operations Division Chief Marc Red Mariñas.
“Mr. Lascañas did not have any Immigration Lookout bulletin order or hold departure order issued against him that could have delayed or prevented his departure. Hence, he was cleared to depart on board Tiger Airways flight to Singapore,” Mangrobang said.
A hold departure order prevents an individual from leaving the country, while an immigration lookout bulletin directs the bureau to “take prudent steps to verify” any criminal cases an individual may have.
A hold departure order against an individual requires a criminal case pending before a Regional Trial Court, which then orders the immigration bureau to prevent the person in question from leaving, the BI said.
PNP chief: Unaware of reasons for Lascañas’s departure
Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa refused to speculate on reasons why Lascañas left the country.
“Blind ako sa paglabas niya. Wala akong alam,” Dela Rosa told members of the press who attended the briefing.
[Translation: I am blind on why he left. I do not know.]
When pressed on the issue, Dela Rosa said to ask Lascañas’s handlers.
“Sino ba ang handler niya? Tanungin niyo…Tanungin niyo si Trillanes kung bakit umalis si Lascañas…I cannot speculate on why Lascañas left. Mas maganda na yung handler niya ang tanungin.” he said.
[Translation: Who is his handler? Ask them…Ask Trillanes why Lascañas left…I cannot speculate on why Lascañas left. It would be better to ask his handler.]
Dela Rosa was referring to Senator Antonio Trillanes, a critic of President Duterte who facilitated Lascañas’s attendance in a senate hearing last month.
A controversial figure
Lascañas was a former police official who confessed in March 2017 that he was a member of the so-called vigilante Davao Death Squad, carrying out killings allegedly on orders of then-Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Read: Lascañas says he killed more than 200; tags Duterte in death squad
Lascañas’s confession was a retraction of his denial in a senate hearing in September 2016 that the vigilante squad existed.
