Duterte Dares Critics To Prove Davao Killings

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte dared his critics to show proof that he was behind the killings in Davao City when he was still a mayor there.

He stressed that Senator Leila De Lima, his staunch critic, has yet to prove the statement of witness Edgar Matobato, former member of the Davao Death Squad, that he had ordered hits in Davao.

“Maraming namatay dito, totoo 'yan, but prove na ako ang pumatay at kung sino,” Duterte said Tuesday.

Duterte said: "If some of my rivals die, for whatever reason, it doesn't really matter who kill them. They would be taken a picture. And then it was made into a folder with so many victims there, victims of crimes against person. All was compiled. So the sum total of these morons is almost 1,007. You are very stupid."

"If I am really a killer, I am a mayor for 23 years and you will only show me that [figures]. I have dumped many in Samal Island, in Davao Gulf, then you will show me only that? I was being just, I raised the level into sarcasm," he added.

During the Senate inquiry on extrajudicial killings last week, Matobato accused Duterte of masterminding series of killings when he was still a mayor of Davao.

Moreover, the president invited the witnesses to go his hometown so he could throw questions at them.

“Pumunta sila dito, ako ang mag cross-examine sa kanila. Who was the first victim? Who was the second? What was the name? Where did it happen?” Duterte said.

The inquiry was led by De Lima, as chair of the Senate Committee on Justice. However, the senator was ousted by her colleagues for allegedly being too biased in handling the probe.

She was replaced by Senator Richard Gordon, who vowed that he would be objective in the inquiry.

Source: Rappler