Qualified civilian groups should be armed to help the police in fighting criminals, President Rodrigo Duterte said as he asked human rights advocates “what is wrong” if he orders the killing of suspects who resist arrest and fight back.
In his speech during the launch of the Global Coalition of Lingkod Bayan Advocacy Support Groups and Force Multipliers in Camp Crame yesterday, the commander-in-chief said the essence of making an arrest is to “overcome the resistance” of the criminal.
“The duty of the arresting officer be he a military, police, or an [ordinary person] making a civilian arrest, eh your duty is to overcome his resistance. So that if he chooses to fight you with a gun-for-gun or maybe a blunt instrument, you have every right also to defend yourself for self-preservation—in law it’s called self-defense. You have to bring him under your control and drag him dead or alive to the station,” the President said.
“If you have this coalition, you have a list of people who are there who can arm themselves. I will order the police if you are qualified, get a gun, and help us enforce the laws,” he added.
The coalition is composed of civilian organizations that will partner with the police in fighting crime.
Duterte said killing a person who already surrendered is never an option even as he stressed the legality of self-defense
“If he goes voluntarily with you – good. It is ideal. You are not supposed to kill a person lying, kneeling, begging for his life,” he said.
“But if they resist arrest violently, then you have the right to do your thing [that is] commensurate…What is wrong when I tell the policemen and the soldiers that if you see them in the mountains, carrying arms, shoot them? Do not wait until you are seen so that you have to confront them physically.”
“That’s why I said, destroy my country, I will kill you. You destroy the youth of the land. So what’s wrong with that? What divine law or divine right will prevent me from saying, ‘you son of a whore, I will kill you.’ I am protecting my country,” Duterte added.
Earlier, International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda requested for the court’s judicial authorization to proceed with an investigation on the Philippine government’s drug war, citing “reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed.”
Duterte vowed to never face an investigation by the ICC.