General who led Duterte’s security detail sacked over links to murder case

Brigadier-General Jesus Durante ordered the killing of Yvonne Chua Plaza, according to investigators. PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER/ YVONNE CHUA PLAZA/FACEBOOK

MANILA (AFP): The Philippine military said Wednesday (Jan 25) it had sacked a prominent army general after police named him as the "mastermind" behind the murder of a woman who was seeking to blackmail him.

Brigadier-General Jesus Durante, the former chief of then-Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte's presidential security force, ordered the killing of a woman outside her apartment last month, police said on Wednesday.