MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte made a bombshell exposé on Monday that he ordered policemen to “encourage suspected criminals to fight back” so that they could be “killed.”
Duterte made the revelation at the Senate’s probe into his administration’s bloody drug war.
However, the former president’s revelation did not sit well with opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who took the time to ask him to explain why he ordered such a controversial policy.
A heated exchange immediately erupted between the two, with Hontiveros raising a singular, but direct question: “Yan ba ang trabaho ng pulis? Na pumatay ng suspected criminals?”
(Is that the job of policemen? To kill suspected criminals?)
Duterte promptly answered, “Kapag lumaban (If they fight back).”
The former chief executive argued that his policemen from the Philippine Military Academy were not stupid, saying they would not follow even if he, himself, ordered that someone be killed as they were well aware of existing laws.
“I tried, ako mismo I tried. Patayin mo — ‘Sir, kulong na lang natin, sir.’ Sabi ko, siguraduhin mo lang na hindi marelease kasi gagawa ng kalokohan ‘yan sa huli, and they will, magho-hold up na naman ‘yan,” said Duterte.
(I, myself, tried. Kill them. But I was told, “Sir, let’s just put them in jail.” I said, make sure that they will not be released because they will do something bad in the end, and they will, they’ll hold up again.)
READ: The Duterte Administration
“Ganon na lang ang sadness ko sa trabaho ko. Sinabi ko ‘yan kasi ‘di ko lang sila mautusan kagaya niyang sinabi ko — p*t*ng*n* nag-rape ng bata ‘yan [at] pinatay, [kaya] patayin mo. Hindi ko mautusan itong mga to, e karamihan mga PMA-er ‘yan, e hindi maniwala ‘yan nang ganun-ganon. Sasabihin, ‘Sir, mahirap ‘yan. Kulungin na lang natin, sir,'” Duterte went on to say.
(My sadness about my job is just like that. I say this because I can’t just order them around, like I said — ‘that son of a b*tch raped a child and killed her, so kill him.’ I can’t give orders like that to these people; most of them are from the PMA, and they won’t just believe it that easily. They’ll say, ‘Sir, that’s difficult. Let’s just arrest him, sir.’)
“There was never a time na sinabi kong patayin niyo ‘yan. Minsan ‘yung harap-harapan sa crime scene, nakita ko yung bata three years old ni-rape, patay tapos nandoon yung tiyuhin, sinabi ko ‘P*t*ng*n*, patayin mo nga.’ Out of outrage, in the moment of outrage,” he added.
(There was never a time I said to kill someone. Sometimes, when I was at the crime scene, I saw a three-year-old girl who had been raped and was dead, and her uncle was there. I said, ‘Son of a b*tch, just kill him.’ It was out of outrage, in a moment of outrage.)
Later in the hearing, Hontiveros emphasized that she knows how intelligent the Philippine Military Academy graduates are. The opposition clarified that the issue at hand was Duterte’s admission of his previous order for policemen to encourage suspects to fight back so that they could be killed.
“Para mapatay, para masabing nanlaban (So they can be killed because they fought back),” said Hontiveros.
“Yes, correct,” answered Duterte.
“Correct? It was very incorrect, if I may say as a civilian, as professional police,” Hontiveros retorted.
Hontiveros’ remarks irked Duterte, who proceeded to tell the senator that she had never had the chance to serve the way he served Filipinos.
“That’s your view. Hindi ka dumaan sa pagka-mayor, pagka-prosecutor, ako dumaan ako pagka-prosecutor, pagka-mayor [at] presidente,” said Duterte.
(That’s your view. You didn’t become a mayor, a prosecutor. I became a prosecutor, a mayor, and a president.)
“Alam ko ang trabaho ko. Hindi ka nagdala ng siyudad eh, you never had the chance to solve the problem of a community. Hindi tayo magkaintindihan dyan. Kung pabalikin ako, gagawin ko ulit ‘yan,” he emphasized.
(I know my job. You didn’t govern a city, you never had the chance to solve the problem of a community. We will not agree with each other, but if given the chance to go back, I will do it again.)
A resounding applause erupted from the Senate plenary right after Duterte dropped his fiery remarks.
Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel, who was presiding over the hearing as subpanel chair of the chamber’s blue ribbon panel, promptly ordered the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms to silence the gallery and exclude from the hall every Duterte supporter who repeated the disruption.
It was the first time that Duterte faced a congressional inquiry into his brutal anti-drug campaign.
But to note, in the first 17 months of the former president’s administration alone, over 20,000 deaths were recorded, based on a report attributed to the Office of the President in 2017.