BACOLOD CITY - Self-confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) member Edgar Matobato did not say anything new in his testimony on Thursday implicating President Rodrigo Duterte in alleged summary killings in Davao City, an ally of the President said.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez told local journalists that Matobato is a "recycled witness".

Alvarez said Matobato issued the same statements several years ago on the existence of the Davao Death Squad when Senator Leila de Lima was still chair of the Commission on Human Rights, but no case was filed.

Alvarez said he is from Davao and the only DDS he knows is "Die-hard Duterte Supporters", of which he is one.

Alvarez who was in Bacolod City Thursday, said de Lima's motives for leading an investigation on killings amid the Duterte administration's war on drugs should be looked into.

He said the lower House will start next week its own inquiry on the proliferation of illegal drugs when de Lima was Justice Secretary.

Alvarez said new witnesses will be presented in the probe.

READ: What a self-confessed DDS hitman told the Senate

READ: The Davao Death Squad and Rodrigo Duterte