After admitting to killing criminals, the Philippine president may face impeachment.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is at risk of impeachment after admitting he personally killed criminals when he was mayor of Davao City. He said he used to patrol the streets looking for "a target to kill," just to show law enforcement that he was capable of it. "I used to do it personally," he said. "If I'm capable, why can't you?" he added. More than two thousand people have been killed by police in anti-drug operations since Duterte became president in July.
Reuters Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is at risk of impeachment for admitting he personally killed criminals when he was mayor of Davao City, two Philippine senators said.
The controversial leader boasted this week to business leaders that, when he was mayor of Davao, he used to patrol the streets on a large motorcycle looking for "a kill date," just to show law enforcement that he was capable of it.
"I used to do it myself," Duterte said. "If I'm capable, why can't you?"
More than two thousand people have been killed by police in anti-drug operations since Duterte became president in July. Almost all were shot while resisting arrest.
Three thousand other deaths are being investigated, and critics consider them executions of vigilantes.
Senator Leila de Lima, a fierce critic of Duterte, said that the president's confession could justify impeachment.
"This is a betrayal of public trust and constitutes a serious crime, because mass murder certainly falls into the category of serious crime. And serious crime is grounds for impeachment under the constitution," Leila told CNN on Thursday.
Senator Richard Gordon, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, also said that Duterte had exposed himself to possible impeachment proceedings after his controversial comments.
"When he says that, he's exposing himself, so the legal course of action is to go ahead and stop him," he told reporters, adding that he wasn't surprised by the statement.
Duterte's allies in Congress challenged the leader's opponents and critics to file an impeachment motion, saying that removing him through a political process is a matter of numbers – there are fewer than 50 opposition lawmakers in the 293-seat lower house of Congress. Two-thirds of these votes are needed to remove a Philippine president.