PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said more vigilantes are likely to spring up in the coming days as he vowed to grant absolute pardon to cops implicated in drug killings.
“These vigilantes, they exist. They got it from me,” Duterte said in Filipino during a speech at the People’s Day Celebration at Socorro, Oriental Mindoro.
Duterte said that more vigilantes are likely to rise because not all Filipinos will let the country fall to illegal drugs.
“Really, if I will not do it, there will be people who will do it for me. Because not all Filipinos are afraid and [will] let the country be crippled because of drugs. Believe me, there will be many others who will come out,” he said.
While he denied operating the so-called Davao Death Squad, Duterte said he is ready to kill vigilante-style if his loved ones are killed by drug addicts or contaminated by narcotics.
“If my daughter gets raped, I won’t have a choice but to buy a gun and a silencer. I will walk down the streets and find you. If I see you, bang, bang, bang. Even if I’m not President, I will do that,” he said.
He also warned drug syndicates to stop peddling drugs or die.
In the same speech, the President reaffirmed his support for police who were just following his instructions.
“It is within the power of the President … I will grant absolute pardon. They will have my protection. You can charge them with anything,” he said.
Human rights groups accused Duterte of encouraging vigilante killings of drug suspects and condoning police misconduct.
Criticism however, of police conduct and alleged vigilante groups committing extrajudicial killings came to a head earlier this year, after it was discovered that police officers were responsible for the kidnapping and killing of a South Korean businessman in October 2016.
On Wednesday, Duterte blamed jailed Senator Leila de Lima for the mounting pressure from the European Union.
In a speech at Socorro, Oriental Mindoro, Duterte denied the claim of the European Parliament that De Lima is a victim of political persecution.
“I’m being castigated by the EU. For their naivety, I pity those guys. Without offending, these white people, they’re rotten. Terrible. No you’re not the one, but members of the EU Parliament,” Duterte said after noticing some Caucasians in the audience.
“Because there is a lady here, would you believe that De Lima is a political prisoner? They’re calling for her release because she’s a political prisoner, because of politics? Then they wanted me arrested?” he added.
Duterte denied claims by the European Parliamentarians that he killed thousands.
On Tuesday, the regional bloc summoned the Philippine envoy based in Brussels to explain Duterte’s “unacceptable” comments that he would be happy to hang foreign officials who oppose his anti-drug campaign and the reinstatement of the death penalty.
The EU also denied Duterte’s claim that it wanted him to put up “shabu clinics” where addicts could get their fix, similar to the “supervised injection sites” in several countries in Europe.
Duterte’s series of tirades came after the EU lawmakers, in a resolution, called for the “immediate release” of De Lima, who is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City on drug charges.
The EU said the senator should be given “free and fair” trial to prove her innocence.
Duterte also alleged that De Lima is receiving special favors even while in prison.
Also on Wednesday, the Philippine National Police said the level of human rights abuses committed by lawmen has dropped 50 percent amid the government’s much-criticized war on illegal drugs.
Chief Supt. Dennis Siervo, director of the PNP-Human Rights Affairs Office, noted that since 2014 there was a downtrend in the cases of human rights violations filed against PNP personnel.
Statistics showed that there 174 PNP personnel charged for human rights violations in 2014; 131 in 2015 while 105 in 2016.
“So there is a downward trend on personnel involved in human rights violations,” Siervo said.
“If you think the war on illegal drugs will escalate the number of human rights violations, the statistics show it did not,” he added. With Francisco Tuyay
