Duterte: ‘No apologies, no excuses’ for drug war that killed thousands

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

FORMER Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday said he offers “no apologies, no excuses” for his war on drugs, as he appeared for the first time at a Senate hearing probing the crackdown, where thousands of drug suspects died.

“My mandate as President of the republic was to protect the country and the Filipino people,” he told a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing. “Do not question my policies, because I offer no apologies, no excuses. I did what I had to do, and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country.”

During the hearing, Mr. Duterte, 79, said he had ordered police officers not to abuse their authority in carrying out his anti-illegal drug campaign and to only resort to force in cases of self-defense, amid allegations of crimes against humanity during the drug war.

“I told them to repel the aggression only in self-defense, not to make orphans of children and widows of wives. I didn’t want that on my conscience as mayor or president,” he said.

“I believe, and still believe now, that rehabilitation and not fear of death and incarceration to be the key to the return of addicted individuals to a just and forgiving society.”

“The conduct of the Senate hearing today… underscores the need for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to pursue its investigation and, more importantly, for President Marcos to cooperate with the ICC investigation,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told reporters via WhatsApp.

Mr. Duterte told senators he had ordered police officers in his hometown of Davao City when he was its mayor to goad criminals to fight back during anti-illegal drug raids so cops will have a reason to retaliate, adding that he had a hit-squad tasked to eradicate crimes.

“What I said was to encourage the criminals to fight [back], encourage them to draw their guns, and if they do fight, kill them to finish this problem in my city,” he said at a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearing looking into his government’s deadly drug war.

Mr. Duterte admitted that thousands of drug suspects died during his stint as Davao mayor.

The firebrand leader said he used a death squad composed of gangsters and rich people who killed criminals in Davao City, but denied giving out rewards for these killings.

The government estimates that at least 6,117 people were killed in Mr. Duterte’s drug war between July 1, 2016, and May 31, 2022, but human rights groups say the death toll could be as high as 30,000.

The International Criminal Court is investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed during the campaign, when Mr. Duterte was still Davao City mayor and during his presidency.

The Philippines under Mr. Duterte withdrew from the ICC in 2019 amid criticisms that his government had systemically murdered drug suspects in police raids. It took effect a year later.

Former Senator Leila M. de Lima, whom the Duterte government prosecuted and jailed for seven years for drug trafficking after she led a Senate investigation of his anti-illegal drug campaign, said Mr. Duterte had fostered a culture of fear and impunity through these extralegal killings.

A Muntinlupa court in June acquitted the former lawmaker in her third and last drug trafficking case that she said was fabricated to muzzle her investigation of Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.

Ms. De Lima noted that when she was Justice secretary, she ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Davao office of the Commission on Human Rights to look into these drug killings. “But they found it difficult to access possible witnesses,” she said in mixed English and Filipino.

Ms. De Lima incurred the former President’s ire when, as chairwoman of the CHR, she started a probe in 2009 into extrajudicial killings by the so-called Davao Death Squad. Mr. Duterte later vowed to “destroy” her.

Responding to one of his staunchest critics, Mr. Duterte said he did his best to “address the issue of illegal drugs firmly and without compromise,” denying so-called state-sponsored killings or orders for policemen to kill.

EX-POLICE CHIEFS
“For all of its (drug war) successes and shortcomings, it was not a perfect one, [there were] a lot of mistakes and crimes,” he said. “I, and I alone, take full legal and moral responsibility.”

He added that his former national police chiefs were “commanders of death squads,” adding that law enforcers only resorted to killing if a criminal or suspect fought back.

“All of them were police directors controlling crime in the city. So if you say Death squad, it’s a very loose term,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. “I never ordered them to kill anyone.”

Former national and Davao City police chief Vicente D. Danao, Jr., told senators Mr. Duterte never ordered him to kill drug suspects and criminals.

At the same hearing, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel “Chel” T. Diokno questioned why a 2016 Philippine National Police (PNP) command circular ordered policemen to “neutralize” drug suspects.

Former national police chief General Archie F. Gamboa said the word “neutralize” is a common term used in police planning that does not necessarily mean to kill a suspect.

Senator Ronald M. dela Rosa, who was also Mr. Duterte’s national police chief, cited the PNP’s operational manual that defined neutralization as “the use of force purposely to stop lawful aggression which includes arrest, capture, surrender or other acts to subdue the suspect.”

“What is on record, through his public pronouncements while the drug war operations were being implemented, were those encouraging soldiers and policemen to kill,” Ephraim B. Cortez, president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said in a Viber message.
“The statement came in too late to exonerate him from any liability,” he added, referring to Mr. Duterte’s remarks on emphasizing self-defense.

CHR Chairman Richard P. Palpal-latoc said his agency had formed a task force to revisit cases of extralegal killings and determine accountability, but the PNP refused to cooperate with the probe.

“The Rodrigo Duterte we saw today is characteristically rambling, unrepentant and disrespectful,” Maria Kristina C. Conti, secretary of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Metro Manila and legal counsel of several drug war victims, said in a Viber message.
“This is enough to reinforce evidence before the ICC for a warrant of arrest in the course of the ongoing investigation,” she added.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has ruled out working with the ICC, citing the country’s functional justice system.

The drug war led to more than 12,000 deaths, mostly urban poor, according to Human Rights Watch. It added that at least 2,555 killings have been attributed to the national police.

“He (Mr. Duterte) is now using the Senate hearing as a platform to mobilize or rally his supporters using his old lines and messaging,” Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“He keeps it vague by not openly admitting to the official status of such directive to resort to killing.”