PHOTO FROM LENI MEDIA BUREAU
ZAMBOANGA CITY—Vice President Leni Robredo said she was deeply concerned over President Duterte’s claim that he used to go around Davao just to kill criminals.
Speaking in Filipino during her visit to Siayan, Zamboanga del Norte on Friday, Robredo said the President’s statement was “troubling because it could send the wrong message, not only to law enforcers but civilians as well.”
On his arrival from his visits to Singapore and Cambodia on Saturday, Duterte said he had killed three people who had kidnapped a woman in 1988.
He said he fired his M16 rifle at the kidnappers, who had put up a fight.
“‘God forgive me for killing these idiots. If they are your creation anyway, so that was, that is also your problem.’ It’s God’s problem. You create a human monster so if you are God, why do you have to create these idiots? That’s why they die. God should have created law-abiding citizens like us,” Duterte told reporters.
Prior to that, he said he roamed the city of Davao when he was the mayor to look for trouble and kill criminals.
Culture of impunity
Robredo said Duterte must always consider his position as commander in chief because his words encourage culture of impunity.
“He should remember that he is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces and the big boss of the police. If our President tells stories that he went around and killed people, its fearsome. It’s as if we are encouraging the culture of impunity,” Robredo said.
In his statements, Duterte had said he only killed criminals, not suspects, because they put up a fight.
“There’s a big difference when you say suspects. Those killed were not suspects because they had committed a crime,” he said.
But even then, Robredo said it sends the wrong message to state forces that it was OK to kill.
“What’s the message? We are giving law enforcers or the ordinary citizens a license to kill. We know the statistics today, there are now almost 6,000 deaths,” she said, adding that half of those deaths occurred in police operations.
“Things might get out of hand,” Robredo added. —JULIE ALIPALA WITH A REPORT FROM ALLAN NAWAL INQ