Former Philippine President Duterte says he ran a ‘death squad’ as mayor

Former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte has told a Senate inquiry that he maintained a “death squad” of gangsters to kill other criminals when he was mayor of a city in the southern Philippines.

Duterte made the damning confession on Monday, also admitting under oath that during his tenure as president and mayor of Davao, he ordered police to “encourage” criminal suspects to resist and “draw their guns” so officers could justify killings.

Official police reports show more than 6,000 people died during a controversial campaign against illegal drugs when he was president of the Philippines. Rights groups estimate that about 30,000 suspects, mostly poor, were killed by officers and vigilantes, many with no evidence they were drug-related.

The killings are now the subject of an investigation by the International Criminal Court for alleged state-sanctioned “crimes against humanity.”

Duterte admitted, without elaborating, that he once maintained a death squad of seven “gangsters” to fight criminals when he was the longtime mayor of Davao City before becoming president.

“I can confess now if you want,” Duterte said. “I had a seven-man death squad, but they weren’t cops, they were gangsters too.”

“I will ask a gangster to kill someone,” Duterte said. “If you don’t kill (this man), I will kill you now.”

“I make no apologies”

Later at the hearing, he also admitted that he gave instructions to police officers on how to handle suspects.

“Let’s be honest. My instructions to the officers were: “Encourage the criminals to fight, encourage them to draw their weapons.” This was my instruction. Encourage them to fight, and when they fight, kill them so that the problem in my city will be solved,” Duterte said.

“I told them, ‘Do the same against drug traffickers so there will be one less criminal,’” he added in a mix of Filipino and English as families of victims of the anti-drug campaign gathered outside the Senate. building to demand prosecution of Duterte.

The 79-year-old said he gave similar instructions to police officers when he became president in 2016. Duterte served as president until mid-2022.

He said among those who could confirm his instructions was Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who previously served as police chief during his tenure as mayor and president.

During his opening remarks, Duterte also strongly defended his administration, saying: “Don’t question my policies because I don’t make any apology or justification.”

“I did what I had to do, and believe it or not, I did it for my country,” he said to applause from his supporters attending the Senate hearing. “I hate drugs, make no mistake.”

While Duterte’s crackdown has been widely condemned, only nine police officers have been convicted of inciting people, including minors, to commit drug crimes.

Investigators are also looking into allegations that among those who served as President Duterte’s top adviser was Chinese national Michael Yang, who has been accused of links to smuggling, drug trafficking and illegal gambling.

In 2017, Duterte’s son Paolo and son-in-law Manases Carpio were also accused of concealing a drug seizure worth $125 million from China. Both rejected the allegations as “baseless.”

Some of the controversial murders of minors were the subject of an investigation by Al Jazeera in 2017.

The war on drugs continued under Duterte’s successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., although the latter pushed for greater emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.