Duterte on drug war: ‘I and I alone take full legal responsibility’

Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte appears before the Senate probe into his administration’s war on drugs on Monday, October 28, 2024 (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines—  Former President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday he would take “full legal, moral responsibility” for his administration’s bloody war on drugs which resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug suspects.

Duterte made this admission when he faced for the first time on Monday the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee’s probe into his war on drugs.

“I have tried to do the best I can to address the problem of illegal drugs firmly and without compromise. That’s all I want to leave here before I leave — before I leave this world. For all of its successes and mistakes — it was not a perfect one. There were many mistakes. Maybe there were a lot of crimes,” he said,” speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.

READ: Duterte defends drug war: I did what I had to do to protect the people

“You know, I just want to leave this to Filipinos. I would never have any chance maybe in the future. But for all the successes and mistakes or whatever, I and I alone take full legal, moral responsibility. That’s what I’m leaving to you all,” he added.

Killing drug offenders

Duterte made the remarks after former Sen. Leila de Lima questioned his alleged policy of killings drug offenders.

READ: Drug war cases ‘being reopened’ following Garma’s revelations – Remulla

“We can destroy and we need to destroy drugs, but we can’t destroy lives. That’s my answer to the very passionate defense of the former president as to his policy of killings, alleged drug offenders, alleged pushers, alleged drug users,” De Lima said.

It was during the Duterte administration that the former senator was jailed for her alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade.

‘President’s job’

In his opening statement, Duterte already assumed full responsibility for what the police did pursuant to his orders.

“My job as president was never easy and it was not meant to be. I have tried to do the best I can to address  the problem of illegal drugs firmly and without compromise for all of its  successes and  shortcomings,” he said.

“I and I alone take full legal responsibility for all that the police did pursuant to my order. I will take responsibility and I will be jailed, not the police who only followed my orders. What a pity, they were only doing their jobs,” he added.