Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte admitted the existence of the Davao Death Squad in the city where he once served as mayor.
A day after a confessed hit man told the Philippine Senate he acted on the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine leader admitted the existence of the so-called Davao Death Squad on Tuesday.
He qualified his admission, however, by saying the death squads were created to combat a Communist-linked death squad, SPARU, during the martial law years of 1972 to 1981.
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“If you really ask, I’m not into excuses. No apologies but you should learn more about DDS. It was organised to combat SPARU [in] Davao. You can ask the people, the old guys there. It was then known as the DDS martial law,” he said.
As the former mayor of Davao City, rumours of Duterte’s links to alleged death squads have followed him through the campaign cycle and into his controversial presidency. In December, he admitted to personally killing suspected criminals while mayor.
His comments about the scope and timing of the DDS contrast findings by international rights groups like Human Rights Watch that say the DDS has been very active since the laste 1990s and killed hundreds of suspected criminals.
Since assuming presidency on June 30, Duterte has nationalised the call for vigilante justice against suspected drug dealers and users leading to the deaths of over 7,000 people.
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