Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent testimony at Monday’s Blue Ribbon Senate inquiry failed to counter the damning findings from the Quad Committee hearings in the lower house of Congress.
There, Duterte revealed he maintained a “death squad” of criminals during his mayoral tenure in Davao City, further reinforcing the horrific implications of his policies during his Presidency.
Duterte made it clear that he has no remorse and even remarked, “I offer no apologies, no excuses,” and insisted, “My mandate as president of the republic was to protect the country and the Filipino people.”
Duterte’s admission that he employed a “death squad” of “gangsters” is disturbing. He openly confessed, “I can make the confession now if you want. I had a death squad of seven, but they were not policemen, they were also gangsters.”
Here is a man who views human lives as expendable. This mirrors the harrowing testimonies heard during the Quad Comm hearings, where victims’ families recounted the devastation caused by Duterte’s ruthless policies.
Families of victims, including Kian delos Santos’s uncle—whose murder at just 17 sparked global outrage—attended the inquiry, serving as reminders of the lives shattered by Duterte’s reign of terror. He shrugged off accusations and repeated his hazardous messages, stating he’d “ask a gangster to kill somebody,” illustrating his utter disregard for justice and the rule of law.
Despite claiming that he instructed police to avoid abusing their power, Duterte’s actions and words tell a different story. “I’ll ask a gangster to kill somebody,” Duterte said. “If you will not kill [that person], I will kill you now” – he brags about orchestrating violence through hired criminals.
Duterte’s testimony serves as a clear confirmation of the brutal realities highlighted in the Quad Committee hearings in the course of Duterte’s infamous war on drugs.
