Duterte wants guns for civilian groups to aid in crime fighting

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called for arming civilian groups to help the police in crime fighting even as he said that authorities should not kill suspects who already surrendered.

“If you have this coalition, you have a list of people who are there who can arm themselves. I will order the police if you are qualified, get a gun, and help us enforce the laws,” Duterte said during the launch of the Global Coalition of Lingkod Bayan Advocacy Support Groups and Force Multipliers in Camp Crame.

“Don't simply make an arrest tapos wala kang...ikaw ang mamatay. You are not supposed to die. A criminal is supposed to die,” Duterte added.

The coalition consists of civilian organizations which will serve as the police’s partner in its fight against crime and police community relations programs.

Duterte then said that killing a person who already surrendered to authorities is never an option.

“If he goes voluntarily with you, good, it is ideal. But if they resist arrest violently, then you have the right to do your thing [that is] commensurate. You are not supposed to kill a person lying, kneeling, begging for his life,” he said.

“Hindi lalaki ang ganun. Pag nagsurrender ang tao, tapos na,” he added.

(That is not being a man. If somebody surrendered to authorities, that’s it.)

Earlier, International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda requested for the court's judicial authorization to proceed with an investigation on the Philippine government's drug war due to “reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity has been committed in the context of the drug war.”

The 52-page report, citing police, human rights groups and confidential sources, said that the drug war had a pattern of killing suspects who are not resisting arrest, with some even begging for their lives to be spared.

Duterte said he will never face an investigation by the ICC.  

In his Friday speech, he said the police must defend themselves against persons resisting arrest during operations.

“If a person chooses to fight you, gun for gun, maybe a blunt instrument, you have every right to defend yourself. That is self preservation, self defense. You have to bring him under your control and drag him, dead or alive to the station. That is the essence of arrest,” Duterte said.