ABOVE THE LAW

Rodrigo Duterte: I Murdered Drug Suspects Myself

To show police officers, “If I can do it, why can’t you?”

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said this week that he personally killed suspected criminals during his tenure as mayor of Davao. Duterte said he used to cruise the streets “looking for trouble” while driving his motorcycle. As part of his anti-drug campaign, the president has ordered police and citizen vigilantes to kill nearly 5,000 people in the country since he assumed the presidency in June. “In Davao, I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys [police officers] that if I can do it, why can’t you,” he said. “And I’d go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around, and I would just patrol the streets, looking for trouble.... I was really looking for a confrontation so I could kill.” Duterte has been criticized by multiple world leaders for his violent extrajudicial campaign. Duterte said Monday, “If they say that I am afraid to stop because of the human rights and guys… including Obama, sorry, I am not about to do that.”