“License to Kill”

noted, since Duterte has taken office, not a single police officer has been arrested let alone
prosecuted for their role in an alleged extrajudicial killing of a drug suspect.
Responsibility of Duterte’s Senior Officials
While President Duterte has led calls for violence in his “war on drugs,” many of his most
senior officials have similarly urged illegal killings, effectively blocking meaningful efforts
to investigate police killings of suspected drug dealers and users.
Duterte’s national police chief Ronald dela Rosa, a long-term ally who was police chief of
Davao City for many years, including during Duterte’s “war on drugs” there, has similarly
urged vigilante killings against drug dealers. On August 27, 2016, he told a gathering of
thousands of surrendering drug users: “Let us help each other. But don’t forget those drug
lords. They know where they will go. You want me to kill them? I’ll kill them. You can them
[also] because you are the victims. Pour gasoline on their houses and burn them. Show
your anger.” 303
After the Senate sought to investigate the killings in July, dela Rosa attacked the effort as
“legal harassment,” claiming the investigations would “dampen the morale” of Philippine
National Police officers. 304 At the same press conference, the government’s top lawyer,
Solicitor-General Jose Calida, also attacked the Senate effort to investigate the police
killings as an attempt to get “media mileage,” and stated:
I am here to indicate the support of the Duterte government for the antidrug
campaign. The office of the Solicitor General is the defender of the
Republic of the Philippines and the people of the Philippines. The people of
the Philippines have had enough of this drug menace that is corrupting and
destroying our youth and society.
303 Stacy Dela Fuente, “‘You can kill drug lords’–Bato Dela Rosa tells drug users,” kami.com, https://kami.com.ph/45684-
video-watch-bato-dela-rosa-tell-drug-users-to-kill-drug-lords-and-burn-their-houses.html.
304 Bea Cupin, “Dela Rosa: PNP ‘legally harassed’ by De Lima,” Rappler, July 11, 2016,
http://www.rappler.com/nation/139327-dela-rosa-pnp-harassed-by-de-lima.
93 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2017