A DEFIANT former President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday assumed full legal responsibility for extra-judicial killings (EJKs) during his anti-drug campaign while challenging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “come as early as tomorrow” to investigate him.
Former senator Leila de Lima, right, looks at former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a joint committee hearing of the House of Representatives investigating the war on drugs during his administration at the House of Representative in Quezon City, Philippines on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024.
Duterte openly admitted instructing police to provoke criminals into resisting arrest, effectively endorsing a “shoot-to-kill” approach. Unmoved, Duterte responded, “I had to issue or make a policy statement about drugs. Everything that happened, what occurred under my orders to stop the drug problem in this country, is my responsibility. I take full responsibility for it; whatever the police did, whether legal or illegal, it’s mine.”
But Duterte admitted that he personally killed six or seven individuals he described as “criminals” during his tenure as mayor of Davao City. “I prayed that as I rode my motorcycle, I would encounter a robber. And if I catch you, I will kill you. I have no patience for criminals,” he added. Duterte expressed readiness to face the outcome of an ICC investigation, saying, “If I am found guilty, I will go to prison and rot there for all time.”
Local authorities, however, would consider cooperating with the Interpol if the ICC seeks the intervention of the international anti-crime body, Bersamin said. Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, co-chairman of the QuadCom, asked Duterte about reports that excess donations to his presidential campaign were used to fund the reward system in his anti-drug campaign.
“We believed in you; we believed in your plan, despite not knowing you from Adam,” he said in an impassioned manner. Abante said assassins were motivated to kill drug suspects and innocent civilians by rewards offered by the Duterte administration.
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