Former Philippines president admits to keeping ‘death squad’ in war on drugs

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte admitted to a senate inquiry on Monday that he had employed a “death squad” of gangsters during his tenure as a mayor of a city.

Mr Duterte, 79, gave his testimony in the televised inquiry on his campaign of “war on drugs”, making his first public appearance since his term ended in 2022.

Mr Duterte, a divisive figure in the Philippines who served from June 2016 to June 2022, projected a “strongman” image, and once called controversial leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin his idol.

His term was marred by allegations of thousands of extrajudicial killings during a brutal crackdown on suspects in his so-called nationwide war on drugs.

During the hearing, Mr Duterte acknowledged without elaborating that he once maintained a death squad of seven “gangsters” to tackle criminals when he was the longtime Davao city mayor, before he became president.

“I can make the confession now if you want,” Mr Duterte said. “I had a death squad of seven, but they were not policemen, they were also gangsters.”

“I’ll ask a gangster to kill somebody,” Mr Duterte said, adding that he would tell them "kill this person, because if you do not, I will kill you now.”

He told police officers to "encourage" suspects to fight back so that officers could justify the slayings.

"Do not question my policies because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do, and whether or not you believe it... I did it for my country," said Mr Duterte in his opening statement.

"I hate drugs, make no mistake about it."

He, however, denied that he gave orders to police chiefs to kill suspects as the squad was made of gangsters.

Mr Duterte won the presidency by a wide margin in 2016 on promises of eradicating drugs and crime.

Prior to his presidency, Mr Duterte served as mayor of Davao city for over 22 years, where he established a reputation for reducing crime through methods that critics argue were often extrajudicial and violent.

Rights groups have said that more than 30,000 people have been killed during his term by police officers and vigilantes during his war on drugs campaign.

“Duterte ordered Philippines’ police forces to kill anyone they believe to be connected to the drugs trade when he assumed office in June 2016. State forces and vigilante groups have followed through these orders ruthlessly,” Amnesty International said.

His first testimony in the investigation came five months after an inquiry was set up by the House of Representatives into the killings. Supporters of the former president have dismissed the investigation as politically motivated.

In 2021 the International Criminal Court in The Hague authorised the court’s Office of the Prosecutor to open an official investigation into crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Philippines between 2011 and 2019. The decision came three years after a preliminary examination into the allegations.

Former senator, Leila de Lima, one of the most vocal critics of Mr Duterte who once investigated the drug killings in Davao, said there was adequate evidence and witnesses of the extrajudicial killings but they were scared of testifying against Mr Duterte when he was in power.

“This man, the former mayor of Davao city and the former president of the Republic of the Philippines, for so long has evaded justice and accountability,” said Ms de Lima, sitting near the former president.

She spent six years behind bars on allegations but the charges were later dropped.

Mr Duterte appeared unabashed. “If I’m given another chance, I’ll wipe all of you,” Mr Duterte said of drug dealers and criminals, who he added had resumed their criminal actions after he stepped down from the presidency.

Additional reporting by agencies