laid on a table after a drug raid in Manila on June 20, 2016. Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Philippines drug crackdown Police officers stand in formation before the start of "Oplan Rody" on June 1, 2016, a law enforcement operation named after President Duterte, whose nickname is Rody. Hide Caption 9 of 9

He says DDS operatives would carry an extra, cheap pistol with them to dump near the bodies, claiming a shootout took place.

Almost all the police "buy bust" operations end with similar reports, and the morning papers' crime scene photos often feature handguns next to sprawled, bloodied bodies. Matobato says he's seen former DDS colleagues in Manila.

"Members of the DDS are already ... in Manila," he says. "The policemen in Davao City are capable ofbegged to get away from the butchery, but in 2014 the kidnap and murder of a businessman was pinned on him. He insists he had nothing to do with it.

"They tortured me and kept me for a week. Every night they will torture me. My relatives helped me and I got out."

He told his wife of his grisly past and together with their two kids they fled the city and, later, went into the Human Rights Commission's witness protection program. Even though the HRC is an independent government agency, Matobato left its program when Duterte became president.

And earlier this year, he took the witness stand to speak out about the group's bloody work.

But presidential spokesman Andanar says that the testimony of the self-declared former killer, who only has