Duterte: I killed 6 or 7 people in Davao, including erring cops

Former President Rodrigo Duterte and Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas at the House of Representatives quad committee hearing on Nov. 13, 2024.

MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday reiterated that he killed six or seven people when he was Davao City mayor, noting that he roamed the city waiting for the chance to kill criminals.

At the House of Representatives quad committee hearing, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas asked Duterte whether it was true that he killed people as he previously mentioned.

“Mr. Chair, I would like to ask again, based on your experience, did you personally kill people?” Brosas asked.

“Me? Many. There were six or seven. But I do not know if they really died, I did not seek an update from the hospital regarding what happened,” Duterte said in Filipino.

Brosas followed up by asking if it was also true that Duterte personally killed criminals to show that police officers can also end the lives of evil individuals.

“I would just like to remind Mr. Chair, because this is from the Senate hearing, I will just quote you: ‘In Davao, I used to do it personally, just to show to the guys if I can do it, why can’t you,'” Brosas said.

“Correct,” Duterte replied.

“You said in a business leaders’ meeting in Manila, how you goad police officers to gun down suspects. Is that right?” Brosas asked again.

“Yes, if they present a violent resistance, that’s the only thing there, you can kill the criminal if you are personally in danger of losing your life too. But you cannot kill a criminal who is in handcuffs or whose hands are tied, that’s not the work of a man,” Duterte said.

Duterte also said he prayed that criminals would show up as he roamed the streets of Davao.

“I was praying, while riding a motorcycle, that I chance upon a holdupper. And if I catch you, I would really kill him. I have no patience towards a criminal,” he said in Filipino.

Police officers not safe

Duterte also said there were instances when he was Davao mayor when he had police officers who committed crimes killed.

The former president said this when Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel questioned Duterte about his drug war.

“You know, in all honesty, I have also killed a lot of police officers in Davao, those who are criminals. Ask people in Davao. Go around and you ask, I myself killed them. Face-to-face,” Duterte said in Filipino.

“I killed many rotten police officers, those who kidnap people, rape, and then kill. I told them that once I caught up with you, I would really kill you. All of them, it goes for the law enforcers, the soldiers, all, even civilians,” he added.

Revelations from former police officials, like retired colonel Royina Garma’s claims about the existence of a rewards system in the Duterte administration’s drug war, have bolstered lawmakers’ belief that there were irregularities in the operations.

According to Garma, Duterte called her in 2016 about the creation of a task force that would implement the so-called Davao template on a nationwide scale.  The Davao template, Garma said, involved providing cash grants worth P20,000 to P1 million to cops who killed drug suspects.

READ: Garma says Davao drug war template, rewards system applied in entire PH

Garma also claimed that the Davao Death Squad, a team that Duterte supposedly crafted, was common knowledge among police officers in Davao.

At a Senate hearing last October 28, Duterte said he created a seven-man hit squad made up of gangsters when he was Davao City mayor, but he retracted his statement when senators asked for a clarification.

READ: Duterte admits to having ‘death squad,’ later insists it’s not one