Philippine President Duterte says he killed criminals: reports
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he personally killed suspected criminals when he was the mayor of the southern city of Davao, according to media reports.
He said he rode around the city, which has a population of 1.5 million, on a motorbike at night “looking for trouble.” Duterte spent more than 20 years as Davao mayor before becoming Philippine president in June.
He made the admission while speaking to business leaders on Monday.
“In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys (police) that if I can do it, why can’t you,” he said, according to AFP.
“And I’d go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around, and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble also.
“I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill.”
The reported remarks, which cannot be independently verified by Paste BN, are the latest in a series of controversial and shocking comments by Duterte.
More than 5,000 people suspected of being involved in the drugs trade have been killed in the Philippines since Duterte took power. He has said he would be "happy to slaughter" 3 million drug addicts like Hitler killed millions of Jews.
Amnesty International urged Duterte "to put an immediate end to unlawful killings" and send a clear message against the unlawful use of force.
“President Duterte’s claim that he has personally killed suspected criminals takes the meaning of 'state-sanctioned' violence to a whole new level," said Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty's director for South East Asia and the Pacific in a statement.
“President Duterte should be fulfilling his obligations by ordering investigations into these killings and bringing those responsible to justice, not claiming a part in them. Statements like these continue to give everybody, including the police in the Philippines a licence to kill in the knowledge that they are protected by the president," Djamin said.