Philippines leader Duterte faces investigation over killings claim

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EFf8Cmvyr_UoCBqMyobpwdRpClF_t6yZ3FfZZs9TszXSijYq7bEDxTCLkD2IyaikuqdRVS149MiZCkwGp6VD_W3FCNRbgWtxIhUnAc_bYzcXldfNX_MN5bHsBtHweb2T5gmv2ocXk5k/s1600/Rodrigo+Duterte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="President Rodrigo Duterte" border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EFf8Cmvyr_UoCBqMyobpwdRpClF_t6yZ3FfZZs9TszXSijYq7bEDxTCLkD2IyaikuqdRVS149MiZCkwGp6VD_W3FCNRbgWtxIhUnAc_bYzcXldfNX_MN5bHsBtHweb2T5gmv2ocXk5k/s400/Rodrigo+Duterte.jpg" title="President Rodrigo Duterte" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Rodrigo Duterte</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Philippines independent human rights watchdog has said it will investigate claims by President Rodrigo Duterte that he personally killed drug suspects while mayor of Davao.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Commission on Human Rights will also examine reports that so-called death squads killed several hundred people in the southern city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Duterte confirmed to the BBC last week that he shot dead three men.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since being elected in May, he has waged a brutal anti-drugs crackdown.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Critics say he has encouraged police, vigilantes and mercenaries to shoot suspected drug dealers and users on sight. Nearly 6,000 people are said to have been killed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Duterte was mayor of Davao for two decades, during which time he earned a reputation for harshly suppressing crime and was accused of sponsoring death squads.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Mr Duterte's claims "clearly constitute murder" and he called on authorities to investigate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chito Gascon, who heads the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, said on Wednesday a team of investigators would look into the matter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He told the BBC that a previous investigation into events in Davao, that concluded in 2012, had not found any evidence that Mr Duterte was directly involved in killings but the commission had recommended charges be filed against him "under the doctrine of command responsibility".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Prosecutors, however, had not taken up the recommendation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Now, with his admission... we are looking into new evidence that directly links Mr Duterte to the killings," he told the BBC's Newshour programme.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Gascon added that Mr Duterte was immune from prosecution while in office.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But he added: "Even if we cannot file charges while Mr Duterte is president I think it is important that we do have a record and documentation [of events] so that at the time of appropriate reckoning we have the evidence preserved so that people may ultimately be held to account for what they have done."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier this month, Mr Duterte told a group of business leaders that in Davao "I used to do it [kill] personally. Just to show to the guys [police] that if I can do it, why can't you".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His spokesman later dismissed the comments as "tough talk" and denied that Mr Duterte had killed anyone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But speaking to the BBC hours later, Mr Duterte said: "I killed about three of them... I don't know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened and I cannot lie about it."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the president's most strident critics in the Philippines, Senator Leila de Lima, has said his admission could be grounds for impeachment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But on Wednesday, the government filed criminal charges against Ms de Lima, accusing her of trying to sabotage a congressional investigation into her alleged involvement in the drugs trade. She strongly denies any wrongdoing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier this week, Ms de Lima told the BBC that she feared for her life, but will not be silenced.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Duterte has dismissed concerns over his anti-drugs policies.</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38403977" target="_blank">BBC News</a>, December 22, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Philippines leader Duterte faces investigation over killings claim

President Rodrigo Duterte The Philippines independent human rights watchdog has said it will investigate claims by President Rodrigo Duterte...

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Philippine President Duterte confirms he killed people as mayor, with no remorse

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYWpnpaTO1CmdF0RbnR580AWSGiQ55jM2jnn3hD-ltSOXPpKzqJ8BQpayMGvIZxJe2cqONDnwtAydncf4Jken41KnoHm0ZkdghRSQOuquagm0FpldRmKWkPUASxi1kD9oWeyMc-eGcQw/s1600/Rodrigo+Duterte+in+Jakarta%2527s+State+Palace+9+SEPT+2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Philippine President Duterte: "Looking for a confrontation so I could kill."" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYWpnpaTO1CmdF0RbnR580AWSGiQ55jM2jnn3hD-ltSOXPpKzqJ8BQpayMGvIZxJe2cqONDnwtAydncf4Jken41KnoHm0ZkdghRSQOuquagm0FpldRmKWkPUASxi1kD9oWeyMc-eGcQw/s400/Rodrigo+Duterte+in+Jakarta%2527s+State+Palace+9+SEPT+2016.jpg" title="Philippine President Duterte: "Looking for a confrontation so I could kill."" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philippine President Duterte: "Looking for a confrontation so I could kill."</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte affirmed on Friday that he shot dead three people as mayor, dismissing any uncertainty and displaying no remorse. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I don’t really know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies,” he said. “It happened. I cannot lie about it.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">His confirmation, reported by the Philippine Star, followed boasts to business leaders on Monday that he killed criminal suspects as the Davao City mayor to set a precedent for his police officers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I used to do it personally, just to show to the guys that if I can do it, why can’t you?” he said, according to a video posted by the Star.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I’d go around in Davao with a motorcycle, with a big bike around, and I would just patrol the streets looking for trouble,” he said. “I was really looking for a confrontation, so I could kill.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The president elaborated on the shootings Friday, calling them incidents with hostage-takers that saved people’s lives. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But his comments already had prompted a warning from U.S. officials and handed critics ammunition to demand his ouster.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The United States on Thursday announced it had <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2016/12/us-cancels-major-aid-package-to.html" target="_blank">deferred a decision to send the Philippines a major economic aid package</a>. White House spokesman Josh Earnest called his remarks “deeply troubling” and “certainly at odds with the Philippine government’s stated commitment to due process and rule of law.” </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sen. Leila de Lima, the president’s most high-profile opponent, told CNN that his admissions amount to “mass murder” and <a href="http://deathpenaltynews.blogspot.com/2016/12/philippine-dutertes-admission-he-killed.html" target="_blank">grounds for impeachment</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Duterte, instigator of a bloody drug war during his presidency that has led to the death of more than 3,000 people, is known for his outlandish statements. He has compared himself to Hitler, declared he was not a killer and then threatened to kill officers who disobeyed him, and hinted at his own overuse of a powerful painkiller. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He has mentioned killing criminal suspects before, but his repeated remarks this week are the strongest declarations since he took office in June. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Duterte’s popularity has only increased since then, and it’s unclear what effect his comments will have throughout the island nation. Philippine officials who support the president have tried to play them down.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The president always resorts to hyperbole,” Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said on Wednesday, according to the Star. “He always exaggerates just to put his message across.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Duterte’s confirmation that he had killed challenged such claims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I would not have any second thoughts about cutting your head off,” he told the paper on Friday, speaking about drug dealers. “Should I allow it to continue? And be like the Latin American states?</div><br />Source: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-philippines-duterte-killings-20161216-story.html" target="_blank">Los Angeles Times</a>, Jessica Meyers, December 16, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Philippine President Duterte confirms he killed people as mayor, with no remorse

Philippine President Duterte: "Looking for a confrontation so I could kill." Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte affirmed on Frid...

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Philippine Duterte's admission he killed criminals an impeachable offense: senators

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EFf8Cmvyr_UoCBqMyobpwdRpClF_t6yZ3FfZZs9TszXSijYq7bEDxTCLkD2IyaikuqdRVS149MiZCkwGp6VD_W3FCNRbgWtxIhUnAc_bYzcXldfNX_MN5bHsBtHweb2T5gmv2ocXk5k/s1600/Rodrigo+Duterte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Duterte risks impeachment after he admitted "personally" killing criminals." border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EFf8Cmvyr_UoCBqMyobpwdRpClF_t6yZ3FfZZs9TszXSijYq7bEDxTCLkD2IyaikuqdRVS149MiZCkwGp6VD_W3FCNRbgWtxIhUnAc_bYzcXldfNX_MN5bHsBtHweb2T5gmv2ocXk5k/s400/Rodrigo+Duterte.jpg" title="Duterte risks impeachment after he admitted "personally" killing criminals." width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duterte risks impeachment after he admitted "personally" killing criminals.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte risks impeachment after he admitted "personally" killing criminals when he was the mayor of Davao City, said two Philippine senators.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The firebrand leader boasted to business leaders on Monday that as Davao City mayor he used to prowl the streets on a big motorcycle looking for "an encounter to kill" just to show to local law enforcers he can do it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I used to do it personally," Duterte said. "If I can do it why can't you?"</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 2,000 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations since Duterte became president in July. Almost all were shot when they resisted arrest.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another 3,000 deaths are under investigation, with critics calling them vigilante killings.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte, said the president's admission could be a ground for impeachment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"That is betrayal of public trust and that constitutes high crimes because mass murders certainly fall into the category of high crimes. And high crimes is a ground for impeachment under the constitution," de Lima told CNN on Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the senate justice committee, also said Duterte opened himself to possible impeachment proceedings following his controversial comments. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"When he says that, he's opening himself up, so what's the legal way, then go ahead and impeach him," he told reporters, adding he was not surprised by the statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Duterte's allies in Congress dared the president's opponents and critics to file an impeachment motion, saying removing the leader through a political process is a numbers game.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are less than 50 opposition lawmakers in the 293-member lower house of Congress. A two-thirds vote is needed to impeach a president.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Peter Wallace, who organized the business forum where Duterte spoke, thought the president's statement was his "usual bravado."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"He talked as he often does about drugs, and killings and criminality. And we had expected that he would but we were there not to listen to that," Wallace told Reuters by phone.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We were there to talk to him or listen to him about business issues and I was pleased that...he moved on to those subjects," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre dismissed Duterte's statement as an exaggeration.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It's like a hyperbole, that's the president, he is used to exaggerate just to put his message across," Aguirre was quoted in radio reports as saying on Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even if that were true, Aguirre said it did not necessarily mean that he violated the law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It could be done with a justifiable cause and justified circumstances as a public officer in order to arrest but if they resisted. He must have been forced," Aguirre said, referring to Duterte.</div><br />Source: Reuters, December 15, 2016<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">⚑ | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: <a href="mailto:deathpenaltynews@gmail.com">deathpenaltynews@gmail.com</a>.</div><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="4" style="background-color: white; border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px solid rgb(255, 204, 0); color: black; text-align: center; width: 100%;"><tbody><tr> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WebDPN/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4sspwgGptzvuHVklum5TwxKppRN-lIC5TN8RLZFq_B4ZOtBrX1ssXPNKQ6XpSyQFRJRtVQN45HMkpt3VX0JtOW0TovwxZAurG-AV6gh98IAXo7Ip6QlpkZr9WrM3_m943Mwy-gGxBAY/s1600/Find+us+Facebook.jpg" /></a></div></td> <td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://twitter.com/WebDPN" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiULIPEaT_P6oIauxAZd17XRRxljesDLS7iIjdQXT7Xct99uHeohx4IYmiAB6S044gTjMDGSy50sL2vDzOyPZ-3vJj9zwcYQ2rgzJh9v1-QDiunKAQtLLLqJ83s38qN3HABxGIC8GsIOD0/s1600/Find+us+twitter.jpg" /></a><span id="goog_1427852018"></span><span id="goog_1427852019"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div></td> </tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b>Opposed to Capital Punishment? 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Philippine Duterte's admission he killed criminals an impeachable offense: senators

Duterte risks impeachment after he admitted "personally" killing criminals. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte risks impeachment...

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