Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte stunned a senate hearing on Monday when he admitted having a “death squad” to help carry out his deadly war on drugs for over a decade during his tenure as mayor of Davao City.
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Appearing before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for the first time, the 79-year-old confessed: “I had a death squad. This was a death squad but I didn’t use the police. I used gangsters. One gangster, I would order him – ‘Kill this person, because if you do not, I will kill you now.’”
The admission came five hours into a nine hour-long probe investigating allegations of extrajudicial killings during Duterte’s presidency, particularly under the controversial “Operation Tokhang” anti-drug campaign. Police put the official death toll of the operation at just over 6,000 deaths but human rights advocates argue the actual number is more than four times higher.
Duterte also said at one point during the hearing that what he ordered the police to do was to “encourage” arrested suspects into fighting back so that they could be killed. The reason he gave for his order was that it would otherwise take a long time to build and prosecute a case.
His testimony marked the first time he directly faced some of his accusers, including families of drug war victims and former senator Leila De Lima, whom he had jailed on drug-related charges, widely believed to be politically motivated, during his term as president.
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De Lima was released in June after witnesses against her recanted their testimonies, claiming they were coerced by then Philippine National Police director general Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, now a senator.
