“License to Kill”

On September 20, Duterte responded similarly to expressions of concern raised by the
European Union about the rising death toll from alleged extrajudicial killings, again taking
personal responsibility for the policies:
When I was mayor, it was very simple. I told [criminals and drug dealers] to
leave. If you are into drugs, murder for hire, leave. Because if you don’t—
this is true—I will kill you. And in the process, I have killed many upon my
direction. That’s not a problem.… I read the EU condemnation of me. I told
them, Fuck you.… What about me? Me, who have I killed? Assuming it
would be true, 1,700. Who are they? Criminals. You call that genocide? How
many have they killed? … If you destroy the youth of the land, I will kill you.
And it is never a crime to say that. So don’t go using my words against me,
“he’s calling for death.” When did it become bad to scare criminals? 301
By mid-December, Duterte was boasting of his personal participation in the killings in
Davao City as an apparent instruction to law enforcement officials currently: “In Davao, I
used to do it personally—just to show to the guys that if I can do it, why can’t you? … I was
really looking for a confrontation, so I could kill.” 302
These statements are only a sample of
those made by Duterte and other senior
officials during the presidential campaign
and since taking office that indicate an
intent to use the country’s law enforcement
agencies to engage in extrajudicial killings
“
If I want to, and if it will deteriorate
into something really very virulent, I
will declare martial law if I want to.
No one can stop me.”
―Rodrigo Duterte, January 14, 2017
of criminal suspects rather than treat them
in accordance with Philippine and international law. He has praised the soaring body count
of victims of police killings as proof of the “success” of his “war on drugs.” In the context of
an anti-drug campaign that has unlawfully killed thousands, and may result in many more
301 “Speech of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the 2016 Sulong Pilipinas: Local Governance Series,” Republic of the
Philippines, Presidential Communications Operations Office, September 20, 2016, http://pcoo.gov.ph/sept-20-2016-
speech-of-president-rodrigo-roa-duterte-during-the-2016-sulong-pilipinas-local-governance-series/.
302 Russell Goldman, “Rodrigo Duterte on Killing Criminal Suspects: ‘I Used to Do It Personally,’” New York Times, December
14, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-killings.html.
91 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2017