MANILA - Retired Davao policeman Arturo Lascañas testified at a Senate inquiry on Monday that he was pressured to deny the existence of the alleged Davao Death Squad being linked to President Rodrigo Duterte last year.

Lascañas alleged that SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura, an alleged trusted aide of Duterte, instructed him to deny the existence of the Davao Death Squad. He said he did so out fear for his family's safety.

"He told me, if ever you were forced to present yourself, denied everything. That is the instruction of SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura. And I said, 'Yes of course,'" he said.

Lascañas told senators in October last year that the DDS was only a myth perpetrated by "media hype." He recanted his denial in a press conference last February 20.

Lascañas said he outed himself as a DDS ringleader because "of fear of God and I wanted to clear my conscience."

NOW ON ANC: Senate probe on the alleged Davao Death Squad https://t.co/DHcEGpuVAc pic.twitter.com/SSKxd0YtQK

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) March 6, 2017