19 Facts About Edgar Matobato

Edgar Bernal Matobato was born on June 11,1959 and is a Filipino self-confessed hitman and whistleblower who claims to be a member of the Davao Death Squad, an alleged vigilante group tasked to summarily execute suspected criminals, from 1988 to 2013.

Edgar Matobato gained international recognition in 2016 when he testified before the Senate of the Philippines, reporting about his experience as a hitman under the DDS.

Edgar Matobato grew up in an impoverished household and is mostly illiterate.

Edgar Matobato's father was a member of the Civilian Home Defense Forces and was killed by communist insurgents in front of him when he was a teenager.

Edgar Matobato alleges that the DDS told him to kill those who they considered as accused criminals like drug pushers, rapists, and thieves.

Edgar Matobato specialized in body disposal, which involved slicing corpses into smaller parts before burying them into "Laud quarry", named after a policeman who owned the quarry and its firing range, or off a bridge in San Rafael, Davao City which ran over the Davao River.

Edgar Matobato was later released at the request of his uncle, a former police officer.

Edgar Matobato then fled between Cebu City, Leyte, and Samar.

Edgar Matobato's torture was corroborated by NBI investigators, who recommended filing a case against the police officers involved.

Edgar Matobato was later brought to the office of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, who hid Matobato and his wife to various church compounds in Manila.

Edgar Matobato's protection was handled by members of Magdalo, a political party headed by former senator Antonio Trillanes.

Edgar Matobato appeared before the Philippine Senate Justice Committee on September 15,2016, during a hearing on extrajudicial killings, having been invited by De Lima who chaired the committee.

Edgar Matobato confessed that he had killed many people, including an alleged terrorist named Sali Makdum.

Edgar Matobato says he was among the names listed under Davao City Hall's Civil Security Unit although he was considered a "ghost employee".

From 1988 to 2013, Edgar Matobato said hundreds were killed in the 25-year span of his service to Davao's CSU.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano questioned Edgar Matobato, pointing out how in his testimonies, he changed his stance from "pretending to have personal knowledge" to "hearsay".

Edgar Matobato filed murder, kidnapping, and crimes against humanity charges against Duterte and other alleged DDS members to the Office of the Ombudsman in December 2016 through his lawyer, Jude Sabio.

Edgar Matobato went into hiding again in 2017, after the Panabo Regional Trial Court issued a non-bailable warrant for his arrest in connection to the kidnapping of Sali Makdum on March 27.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported that Edgar Matobato did not have any passport records under his name.