MANILA, Philippines – Presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he killed 1,700 people, in response to an international human rights group report.
“Ano bang problema nila?” he said. “Seven hundred daw pinatay ko? Nagkulang nga sila sa kwenta, mga 1,700,” Duterte said.
After personally filing his certificate of candidacy before the Commission on Elections, Duterte was asked by the members of the media for his reaction regarding the recent report that Amnesty International Philippines (AIP), was alarmed about his human rights record to which he replied by correcting the numbers mentioned by a reporter.
Duterte added that the issue on his human rights record started with his political rival in Davao, former House Speaker Rep. Prospero Nograles.
“You know that started as a political gimmick of Congressman Nograles,” Duterte said.
Reports said Nograles set aside political differences and will support Duterte’s presidential bid for the sake of the country.
AIP earlier raised flags about Duterte’s human rights record since the mayor has long been tagged in the alleged “Davao Death Squad,” a vigilante group that carried out summary executions in the city.
“Naaalarma kami when he said that when he becomes president, he will impose the death penalty on a weekly basis," AIP Chair Ritz Lee Santos III said.
The group attended the hearing on alleged torture cases of the Philippine National Police at the Senate on Tuesday. The hearing was presided by Duterte’s partymate, Partido Demokratiko Pililipino-Lakas ng Bayan Senate Justice and Human Rights Committee Chair Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Pimentel said AIP did not mention their issue with Duterte but the senator still defended the mayor, saying he has changed and that he is all for supporting federalism and fighting criminality and corruption.
“Observe his language, observe his behavior,” Pimentel said.
Aside from AIP, New York-based human rights group Human Rights Watch also call for probe regarding Duterte’s alleged involvement in the Davao Death Squad.
The AIP is also urging all presidential candidates to present their human rights platform if ever they get elected in the 2016.