MANILA – A policeman who accused President Rodrigo Duterte of funding and directing a “death squad” in Davao City when he was mayor confessed on Monday to having his two brothers killed for involvement in illegal drugs.

Retired Police officer Arthur Lascanas, who claimed to be one of the founders of the Davao Death Squad, said he did it out of “blind loyalty and obedience” to Duterte.

“Isa ako sa instrument sa pagkamatay ng dalawa kong kapatid, si Cecilio at Fernando. Tanggap ko po kung ano man mangyari sa akin dahil sa sobra kong loyalty sa kanyang campaign,” Lascanas told reporters.

(I was one of the instruments in the death of my two brothers, Cecilio and Fernando. I will accept whatever will happen to me because of my loyalty to his campaign.)

Duterte has repeatedly denied maintaining a death squad in Davao, the southern metropolis where he served as mayor for two decades before he was elected president last year.

“Panawagan ko sa mga kapatid sa kapulisan, hindi solusyon ang pagpatay. Mananagot tayo sa batas ng tao at sa batas ng Diyos (I appeal to my brothers in the police force, murder is not the answer. We will be held accountable under the laws of man and God.)