Former bodyguard and police officer Sanson Buenaventura attends the House Quad Committee’s tenth hearing on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs on Nov. 7, 2024.

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s driver and bodyguard revealed that “superman” was a name used to address Duterte, the same name self-confessed Davao Death Squad chief Arturo Lascañas said vigilante members used to refer to him.

The bodyguard was SPO4 Sanson “Sonny” Buenaventura, a retired police officer who served as Duterte’s driver and bodyguard from 1988 to 2008. 

During the tenth House Quad Committee hearing on Thursday, November 7, Buenaventura was asked if he could confirm that Duterte was the “superman” DDS members claim to report to.

He did not give a direct “yes,” but the bodyguard said that “superman” was the “call sign” he used when communicating with Duterte via radio during his time as mayor of Davao City.

“Iyon ang call sign ni Mayor Duterte nuong may radio pa kami (That was the call sign of Mayor Duterte when we still used radio),” Buenaventura said. 

Loyalty in question. When he explained his long-time relationship with Duterte, he consistently maintained during the interpellation that he knows nothing about the DDS, a claim that Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District) and Rep. Mikaela Suansing (Nueva Ecija, 1st District) repeatedly challenged.

Buenaventura described the former president as a “kind person” whose enemies are criminals, confidently saying that he is loyal to Duterte. 

He also agreed with Luistro, saying he would never do anything to harm the president and would even sacrifice himself to protect Duterte.

“Because you graded your loyalty and dedication by 10. At kung kailangan niyo pong ialay ang buhay niyo, mailigtas lamang ang dating pangulo, gagawin niyo din po ba yan?” Luistro asked.

(Because you rated your loyalty and dedication a 10. And if you needed to sacrifice your life just to save the former president, would you also do that?)

“Yes, your honor,” Buenaventura answered. 

Initially, Luistro asked in English if he would lie to protect the reputation of Duterte by referring to it as “committing misrepresentation.” 

Buenaventura said yes, but immediately backtracked when the question was asked in Filipino. 

Denies death squad, reward system

Despite the testimonies of Lascañas, Edgar Matobato and Jose Basilio, who claim they are DDS members, Duterte’s former bodyguard said he still doesn’t believe in the vigilante group’s existence.  

Even Duterte confessed at the Senate hearing into the war on drugs on October 28 that the death squad exists, but Buenaventura firmly insisted that he only learned of it from news reports and never from the former president. 

“Narinig ko lang ‘yan, your honor. Ang nagbigay ng pangalan na ‘yan is the media (I only heard about it. The one who named the group is the media),” he said.

Buenaventura also denied allegations by retired police chief Royina Garma, who claimed in her sworn statement that she personally received a P20,000 reward from him for killing a drug suspect sometime between 2014 and 2016.

Garma further alleged that Buenaventura, also a former police officer in Davao, issued similar “direct payments” of P20,000 to other station commanders in the city.

Buenaventura also denied other yes-or-no questions from lawmakers that could substantiate allegations against Duterte.

The House Quad Comm has been investigating Duterte’s war on drugs and its extrajudicial killings which has reached around 30,000 according to human rights groups. 

Although Duterte was invited to address claims about the reward system, he declined to appear on Thursday, believing the mega panel intends to implicate him in crimes related to the drug war.