79-year-old stated the squad was composed of gangsters and that he would urge them to “kill this person, because if you do not, I will kill you now” in his first appearance before an official probe into his alleged war on narcotics.
Duterte’s pledge to expand his anti-crime campaign nationwide helped him win the president by a landslide in 2016.
The International Criminal Court is currently looking into the controversial police operations that killed hundreds of people during the countrywide drug war.
Duterte also claimed at Monday’s Senate session that he instructed police to “encourage” criminals to resist so that officers could defend the deaths.
I don’t apologize or make excuses, so don’t challenge my policies. Whether you believe it or not, I did what I had to do. In his introductory remarks, Duterte declared, “I did it for my country.”
Don’t get me wrong, I detest drugs.
He asserted that his “death squad” was composed of “gangsters… not policemen” and denied that he authorized his police commanders to murder suspects.
If you wish, I can confess right now. My seven-person death squad was made up of gangsters rather than police.
