Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. LITO TECSON/CDN FILE PHOTO
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is asking the Filipino electorate to not elect him as the country’s next president because he does not want to kill more people.
In an interview in the local television program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” which aired on Sunday, Duterte admitted his link to the infamous Davao Death Squad (DDS).
“They say I am the death squad? True, that is true,” Duterte said.
The DDS is allegedly responsible for the killing of more than 1,000 suspected criminals in the city since Duterte became mayor in 1988.
READ: Human rights group: Gov’t should probe alleged Duterte role in extrajudicial killings
Duterte, who is tied with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas in third place in the recent Social Weather Stations electoral survey, warned that the number of dead crime suspects would shoot up to 100,000 if he got elected.
“If by chance, God will place me there, the 1,000 will become 100,000,” he said.
“Diyan mo makita na tataba ang isda sa Manila Bay. Diyan ko kayo itatapon (You will see bigger fish in Manila Bay because that is where I will dump your bodies),” he added.
“I do not want to be president. I do not want to kill people so do not elect me as president,” Duterte said.
The local chief executive remains firm in his mission to kill everyone “who makes the lives of Filipinos miserable.”
“Papatayin ko talaga kayo (I will kill you),” he stressed, referring to criminals.
“I will kill all of you who make the lives of Filipinos miserable. I won because of the breakdown in law and order,” he said.
Meanwhile, after calling the Human Rights Watch a “hypocrite” following the group’s statement urging the Philippine government to probe his alleged role in the DDS, Duterte urged the group to come to Davao in a face-off in court.
READ: Duterte calls US rights group hypocrite
“Gusto ko sila pumunta dito. (I want them to come here). File directly in court. Then I’ll place you under oath. Just execute an affidavit. Then I’ll call you when it’s my time for cross-examination. And I will show to the world how stupid you are,” the mayor said.
The HRW said that Duterte should be investigated because he has “continued to espouse the killing of criminal suspects to combat crime” in Davao City.
“The long official tolerance of Duterte’s advocacy of summary killings as effective crime-fighting strategy needs to stop. The government should send an unambiguous message to Duterte and other officials that support for extrajudicial killings results in an investigation – not in speaking tours,” HRW deputy Asia director Phelim Kline said in a statement.
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