Former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte told a Senate inquiry that he maintained a “death squad” of gangsters to kill other criminals when he was mayor of a southern Philippine city.

Duterte made an expletive-laden confession Monday by also admitting under oath that during his tenure as president and mayor of Davao, he ordered police to “encourage” crime suspects to fight back and “draw their weapons.” so that the officers can justify the killings.

Official police records show that more than 6,000 people died during the controversial campaign against illegal drugs when he was president of the Philippines. Rights groups estimate that up to 30,000 suspects, most of them poor, have been killed by police and vigilantes, many without proof of their drug connection.

These killings are now being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a state-sanctioned “crime against humanity.”

Duterte admitted, without elaborating, that he once led a death squad of seven “gangsters” to deal with criminals when he was the long-time mayor of Davao City before becoming president.

“I can make a confession now if you want,” Duterte said. “I had a death squad of seven people, but they weren’t police, they were gangsters too.”

“I will ask a gangster to kill someone,” Duterte said. “If you don’t kill (this person), I will kill you now.”

“I make no apologies”

Later in the hearing, he also admitted giving instructions to police officers on how to deal with suspects.

“Let’s be frank. My instructions to the officers were: “encourage the criminals to fight, encourage them to draw their weapons.” That was my instruction. Encourage them to fight, and when they fight, kill them so that the problem of my city will be solved,” Duterte said.

“I told them: ‘Do the same thing against the drug traffickers so that there is one less criminal,'” he added in a mixture of Filipino and English, as the families of the victims of the anti-drug campaign gathered in front of the Senate. building to demand prosecution of Duterte.

The 79-year-old said he gave similar instructions to police officers when he became president in 2016. Duterte served as president until mid-2022.

He said among those who could corroborate his instructions was Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, who previously served as his police chief when he was mayor and president.

During his opening statement, Duterte also strongly defended his administration, saying, “Do not question my policies because I offer no excuses, no excuses. »

“I did what I had to do, and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country,” he declared to the cheers of his supporters present at the Senate hearing . “I hate drugs, make no mistake.”

While Duterte’s crackdown has been widely condemned, only nine police officers have been convicted of framing people, including minors, for drug crimes.

Investigators are also looking into allegations that among Duterte’s top presidential advisers was a Chinese national, Michael Yang, accused of having links to smuggling, illegal drug trade and illegal gambling.

In 2017, Duterte’s son Paolo and son-in-law Manases Carpio were also accused of covering up the seizure of a shipment of narcotics worth $125 million from China. Both have denied the allegations, calling them “baseless.”

Some of the controversial killings of minors were investigated by Al Jazeera in 2017.

The war on drugs continued under Duterte’s successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, although the latter insisted that more emphasis be placed on prevention and rehabilitation.