Rodrigo Duterte admitted ‘many things’ during drug war probe – PCO

Former President Rodrigo Duterte. MALACAÑANG FILE PHOTO / KING RODRIGUEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro on Monday said former President Rodrigo Duterte “admitted many things” during the congressional probe into his administration’s drug war, noting that due process must have been followed.

At a Palace briefing, Castro was asked to comment on Duterte’s statement on reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) released an arrest warrant for him concerning his administration’s drug war.

“[The International Criminal Court] has been chasing me for a long time. What did I do wrong? I did everything that I could in my time so there could be a little bit of quiet and peace for the lives of the Filipinos,” he said during a Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) rally in Hong Kong last Sunday.

READ: Duterte on possible ICC arrest warrant: I did everything for Filipinos

During the Palace briefing, Castro said proper legal procedures should have been followed during the drug war.

“Now, regarding his claim that he has done nothing wrong, we have heard a lot—he admitted during the hearings at the House Quad Comm and the Senate. He made several admissions—first and foremost, he stated that he encouraged, or rather, ordered the police officers to encourage the suspect to fight. For what? What was the purpose of that?” she said in Filipino.

“He admitted that it was done so that the defense could be used—because if a suspect fights back, it could be considered self-defense on the part of the police officers. But that should not be the practice; there should be due process.”

“Maybe for those who were not victims of EJK (extrajudicial killings) and the bloody [Oplan] Tokhang, they continue to cheer and applaud. But what about those who lost their loved ones? What about the families who were left grieving because due process was not given to them?” she added.

During the campaign sortie of PDP-Laban in Hong Kong, Duterte also jokingly asked the audience to contribute to a fund for a monument in his honor if he is imprisoned.

To which Castro reacted in Filipino, “Perhaps the declaration of someone as a hero should not come from the person themselves—it is the people who should decide if they were truly a hero and honor them with a monument.”

Based on reports, the war on drugs left at least 6,000 people dead; however, human rights groups reported that the number may have reached 20,000.