President Duterte disclosed in his speech in front of the businessmen that he had personally killed suspected criminals to set an example for his police force when he was still the mayor of Davao City.
The President made the remarks related to his relentless campaign to obliterate illegal drugs in the Philippines with his objective to make the country a drug free environment.
Consequently, his vigorous battle against illicit drugs has resulted to the killings of thousands of people since he was declared as President of the Republic of the Philippines on June 30, 2016.
In his statement about the ongoing war against crime where the police are killing suspects resisting arrests, the tough talking Duterte divulged that he spearheaded equivalent efforts when he was still the mayor of Davao City for 20 years keeping the city a safe place to live.
During his speech at the presidential palace, Duterte said: “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.”
“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 human-rights groups have previously denounced Duterte for allegedly leading vigilante death squads in Davao that killed at least 1,000 suspected criminals, and thereby accusing Duterte of taking the law with his own hands without passing the due process of law.
However, the President responding to the denunciation from US President Barack Obama and human-rights groups, clearly emphasized that he will continue to eliminate lawlessness in the country and restore peace and order to make the Philippines a safe place to live for the Filipinos.
Duterte said: “If they say that I am afraid to stop (the campaign) because of the human rights and guys from including Obama: Sorry, I am not about to do that.”
Duterte has previously refuted the allegations of his involvement in the death squads but instead appealed to the ordinary citizens to help in the crackdown against drug pushers and users by reporting them to the proper authorities.
Likewise, he instructed the police force to apprehend and kill drug traffickers if need to if their lives are in imminent danger and ensure that they act in accordance with the law.
Moreover, sometime in October, Duterte released a statement comparing himself to Adolf Hitler and remarked that he would be happy to annihilate 3 million drug addicts in the country.
However, he later expressed regret for his word referring to Hitler but said he’s explicit about wanting to eradicate millions of drug addicts in the Philippines.
Since Duterte assumed the position, it was reported that the police have killed in an encounter approximately 2,086 individuals during its antidrug offensives, with more than 3,000 others have been killed in unknown circumstances, based on the recent official statistics.
President Duterte stood firm that police are killing only in an act of self-defense and the hoodlums are the ones executing the other victims to silence them.
He also pointed out that he will not let any policemen to land in jail if proven guilty of killing the criminals associated to the government’s campaign against illegal drugs activities.
Source: The Guardian
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