MANILA - Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday accused President Rodrigo Duterte of organizing "death squads" in the country, with a certain group of police officers directly answering to him.

In a media forum, Trillanes said the police officers working for Duterte's alleged death squads belong to the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) class of 1996, the batch of Supt. Marvin Marcos, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Region 8 (CIDG) tagged in the slay of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, a drug suspect.

"Meron kaming mga impormasyon na itong grupo ni Supt. Marcos at ilang mga classmate nila ay ito 'yung mga nag-e-exucte ng extrajudicial killings," said Trillanes, among the President's most vocal critics.

The senator also said a certain "Supt. Leonardo," who was allegedly close to the president's son Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, was acting as the group's point person and its direct line to the President.

Trillanes believes this was the reason why the Department of Justice had, upon review, downgraded to the bailable offense of homicide murder charges originally filed against Marcos and 18 other police officers for the Nov. 5, 2016 slay of Espinosa and fellow inmate Raul Yap.

The President had earlier ordered Marcos and his men reinstated after their relief, following findings at a Senate inquiry that Espinosa's killing was premeditated.

"Hindi ito 'yung grupo nina [Philippine National Police chief Director] General [Ronald] Dela Rosa ha. Kaya nga na-overturn si Chief PNP noong ni-relieve niya [sina] Supt. Marcos. Kasi nakadiretso sila kay President Duterte," he added.

He said the "death squads" operate under the system of the Davao Death Squad (DDS), where an "organization within the organization" allegedly reports straight to Duterte to carry out extrajudicial killings of crime suspects, critics, and political opponents.

Self-confessed assassins Arturo Lascañas and Edgar Matobato had earlier tagged President Duterte in DDS operations when he was still Davao City Mayor. But Duterte has repeatedly denied alleged ties to vigilantism.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, meanwhile, dismissed Trillanes' allegations, issuing a brief response to counter the senator.

"He seems to really give in to these huge fantasies," Abella said during a press briefing in Malacañang. --with reports from Sherrie Ann Torres and Zandro Ochona, ABS-CBN News