Philippine police to investigate Duterte's 'death squad' claims

The Philippine police said on Wednesday they will investigate revelations made by former President Rodrigo Duterte that he assembled a "death squad" to control crime when he was mayor of the southern city of Davao.

Duterte had pointed at former police officers present at a Senate inquiry into his deadly "war on drugs" on Monday as leaders of that death squad, the existence of which the former president and his allies had for years denied.

Duterte later said gangsters, not police, made up the hit team.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Jean Fajardo said the names mentioned in the hearing would be used as leads and the basis for its investigation.

She said the PNP chief has instructed officers to extract unsolved cases of deaths related to drugs, including those that may be linked to the so-called death squad.

"If we dig up cases showing police involvement, the PNP chief made it clear there will be no sacred cows," Fajardo told a press conference.

Human rights groups documented about 1,400 suspicious killings in Davao during the 22 years Duterte was mayor and critics say the war on drugs he unleashed when he became president in 2016 bore the same hallmarks, with a significantly greater death toll.

When Duterte was president, two men including a former policeman had testified before the Senate they were part of an alleged hit squad in Davao that killed at Duterte's behest, but legislators at the time found no proof. Duterte's aides dismissed the claims as fabricated.

DAMAGING ADMISSIONS

Former police chief-turned senator Ronaldo dela Rosa, the chief enforcer of Duterte's nationwide crackdown, previously said the death squads were "fiction".

In Monday's hearing, he downplayed Duterte's latest remarks, saying they should be taken as a joke.

The Philippine war on drugs is also the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into possible crimes against humanity.

According to police data, more than 6,200 people died in anti-drug operations under Duterte's presidency, during which police typically said they killed suspects in self-defence.

Human rights groups believe the real toll of the drugs war to be far greater, with thousands more users and small-time peddlers killed in mysterious circumstances by unknown assailants.

"Duterte's admissions were very, very damaging. It will have a major weight in the decision of the ICC," said human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares, who also represents families of drug war victims.

"He admitted practically the elements of crime against humanity."

The 79-year old Duterte, who was elected on promises to wipe out crime and drugs and kill thousands of dealers, offered no apologies in the hearing, which was also attended by victims' families.

"If you let me back, I would do it all over again," he told senators.