Duterte: I joined police ops in Davao to kill criminals

When he was still mayor of Davao City, President Rodrigo Duterte led by example to the police and joined them in operations to "personally" kill criminals.  

In a speech delivered late Monday night in Malacañang during the Wallace Business Forum, Duterte denied that the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects were state-sponsored. 

"We do not, you know, we do not wrap people with plastic tape. We are not producing mummies in the Philippines for export. Those are indications of torture," he said. 

"Why will I torture when we are going to arrest you because you are committing a crime? There’s no need for us to torture or rather you just shoot him and fire a bullet in the head. Why go into this charade of wrapping people? You don’t indicate that there are tortures and forcing people to say something," he added. 

Then, he added that only a third of the reported drug-related killings, which soared to around 2,000 since he became President on June 30, were a result of police operations. 

"But in Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the guys that, if I can do it why can’t you? And I go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around and I would just patrol the streets and looking for trouble also. Talagang naghanap ako ng engkwentro para makapatay," he said.  

During his meeting with the Filipino community in Cambodia late Tuesday night, Duterte reiterated that he used to join police operations in Davao City. 

"Lahat man kayo, may kilalang addict doon sa Pilipinas. You know, addiction starts with paranoia. 'Pag nandiyan siya sa droga, magdala talaga ng knife ‘yan o baril. Ganon ang sakit ‘yang mga ’yun. Believe me, I’ve been mayor of Davao City for 23 years," he said. 

"Ako mismo sumasama minsan. Kung sabihin mo may binaril ako, baka. Pero nakapikit ako kasi takot magpaputok," he added. 

However, in earlier speeches also on Monday, Duterte said that he does not enjoy seeing drug suspects killed. He also denied that he is a killer. 

Duterte previously admitted to killing criminals when he was still mayor of Davao City.

When he was formally proclaimed as the standard bearer of the PDP-Laban in November 2015, Duterte boasted of killing kidnappers in Davao City. 

He also repeatedly threatened to kill drug suspects before and after he took his oath as the 16th President of the Philippines. — RSJ, GMA News