Related: Witness: I killed people in Davao City upon orders of Duterte

Watch video! 
Metro Manila — Sen. Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes said he was "very much disappointed" after the Senate leadership denied on Thursday a request to give refuge to a witness in an ongoing probe on extrajudicial killings.

Trillanes said the decision of the Senate President to turn down a request by the Justice committee was "heartless." Despite this, he said, the lawmakers would find other ways to provide protection for self-confessed former hitman Edgar Matobato.

"Generally, overall, I find him (Matobato) credible," Trillanes told CNN Philippines, saying even Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald dela Rosa "validated some portions of his testimony" like the names of enlisted men and PNP members of the Heinous Crime Unit, and that Matobato was indeed a notorious hitman.

"But we are still validating some of his claims. Like if he was indeed an employee of the Davao City Hall or if he was part of the security team of Duterte," the senator said, adding that these can be checked based on documents or identification cards.

Related: Witness: I killed people in Davao City upon orders of Duterte

'Pattern of behavior'
Trillanes then underscored what he considered as the most important part of Matobato's testimony: that not all those killed were criminals, some were allegedly just rivals of Duterte.

The lawmaker also said the witness' testimony "is establishing a pattern of behavior" under the leadership of Duterte.

Related: Malacañang denies Motabato's claims

He added that apparently Duterte was doing what he did before in Davao in dealing with crime.

"With this witness, he showed that... The Davao template of extrajudicial killing, the Davao Death Squad, is being elevated to the national level.

"Not all those being killed nanlaban or those who resisted arrest, but most of these killiings are abductions and summary executions," Trillanes said.

He also clarified that what went on in the hearing was not part of a demolition job against the President.


"When you talk about demolition, you talk about propaganda. But when you talk about the truth and you get demolished in the process, then that's just how it goes, how it should be. We should be able to differentiate.

Clash with Cayetano
Trillanes, who was seen confronting Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano over the issue of time limit for questioning, said he had to do so because his colleague "had run amok."

"He was already going against the rules of the committee... That's why he was ruled to be out of order," Trillanes said, adding that he had to switch off Cayetano's microphone because the chairperson — Sen. Leila de Lima — wasn't aware that she could control which microphones to turn off when she needed to speak.

Trillanes — who is Cayetano's Nacionalista Partymate — said the heated exchange between the two of them was unfortunate. But they were able to "temper their emotions" later on.

It can be recalled that the two senators figured significantly during last year's series of Senate hearings, as they probed allegations of corruption against then Vice President Jejomar Binay and his family.

CNN Philippines tried to get Cayetano to comment on the matter but he declined.