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Reuters

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte risks impeachment after he said he “personally” killed criminals when he was the mayor of Davao City, said two Philippine senators.
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.
“I used to do it personally,” Duterte said. “If I can do it why can’t you?”
But his justice secretary said Duterte often exaggerates killings of criminals he supposedly carried out to send a chilling warning to lawbreakers.
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.
Another 3,000 deaths are under investigation, with critics calling them vigilante killings.
Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte, said the president’s admission could be a ground for impeachment.


“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.
De Lima herself faces charges. On Tuesday Duterte’s allies in Congress filed a criminal complaint against her. In November, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed bribery, graft and drug-related complaints against the senator.
Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the senate justice committee, also said Duterte opened himself to possible impeachment proceedings following his controversial comments.
“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.

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.
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.
Peter Wallace, who organised the business forum where Duterte spoke, thought the president’s statement was his “usual bravado.”
“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 said.

“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.
Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre dismissed Duterte’s statement as an exaggeration.
“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.
Even if that were true, Aquirre said it did not necessarily mean that he violated the law.
“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,” Aquirre said, referring to Duterte.


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Rodrigo Duterte

Duterte critics raise prospect of  impeachment after president boasts he killed criminals

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. Photo: Reuters

This handout photo taken on December 12, 2016 and released by the Presidential Photographers Dividion (PPD) shows President Rodrigo R. Duterte (R) gesturing while delivering his speech before local and foreign businessmen at Malacanang Palace in Manila. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he personally killed suspected criminals when he was mayor of a southern city to set an example for police. Duterte made the comments in a speech late December 12 to businessmen as he discussed his campaign to eradicate illegal drugs, that has seen police and unknown assailants kill thousands of people since he became president on June 30. / AFP PHOTO / PPD / Rey BANIQUET / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO /REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS DIVISION" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

epa05660468 Filipino Senator Leila De Lima questions Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa (not pictured) during a Senate inquiry in Pasay City, south of Manila, Philippines, 05 December 2016. The Senate resumed the hearing on extra judicial killings and the war against on drugs with an investigation on the death of Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and the capture of former driver and bodyguard of Senator Leila De Lima who was allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade during her time as the Justice Secretary. EPA/MARK R. CRISTINO

Philippine agency files corruption, narcotics charges against key Duterte critic

Opposition Senator Leila De Lima. Photo: AP

Former justice secretary and human rights chief Senator Leila de Lima (C) gestures with supporters after filing her petition for habeas data against Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at the supreme court in Manila on November 7, 2016. De Lima, a leading critic of Duterte's bloody war on drug crime, launched a Senate probe into the surge of killings since Duterte took office on June 30, which led to her being ousted on September 19 by pro-Duterte senators as head of the Senate justice committee. / AFP PHOTO / TED ALJIBE

Philippines' Duterte says he personally killed people to show cops how it’s done

Rodrigo Duterte fires a pistol at a shooting range. The Philippine president said he personally killed suspected criminals when he was mayor of a southern city to set an example for police. Photo: YouTube

TO GO WITH PHILIPPINES-CRIME-MAYOR SCHED Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, displays Mike Umpa an arrested suspected drug dealer during a press conference in this southern city 23 April 2004. Popularly known as "Dirty Harry" Duterte, 59, declares Davao is "the safest city in the Philippines" with the street crime, illegal drugs problem and rape decreased dramatically. However human rights groups said killings have risen steadily with most murders perpetrated by the vigilante group known as Davao Death Squad who single out drug dealers for execution. Critics accuse Duterte of sanctioning vigilante killings, a claim he denies. AFP PHOTO GENE BOYD LUMAWAG/ MINDANEWS

Filipino women who come from the slums of the southern Philippine city of Davao, hold pictures of their dead or missing sons, involved in petty theft or the drug trade February 8, 2004. The mothers blame Davao city mayor Rodrigo Duterte for what happened to their sons, who they believe were summarily executed. The tough talking Duterte is either a model for other leaders of crime ridden Philippine cities or a thinly disguised bully who has taken the law into his own hands. Picture taken February 8, 2004. TO ACCOMPANY FEATURE PHILIPPINES-MAYOR REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

epa05665143 Filipino funeral parlor wokers carry a dead body following a police operation against illegal drugs in Manila, Philippines, 08 December 2016. President Rodrigo Duterte launched a nationwide anti-drug campaign that has so far reportedly led to the deaths of 5,900 people, killed in police raids and at the hands of vigilante groups since the campaign started on 30 June. EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

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Duterte’s allies dared the president’s critics to file an impeachment motion, saying removing the leader through a political process is a numbers game


Duterte critics raise prospect of impeachment after president boasts he killed criminals

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Duterte’s allies dared the president’s critics to file an impeachment motion, saying removing the leader through a political process is a numbers game

Duterte’s allies dared the president’s critics to file an impeachment motion, saying removing the leader through a political process is a numbers game