Calls for Duterte probe after Philippine hitman claims president ordered a thousand killings

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Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte addressing the Philippine Army Scout Rangers at their headquarters in the town of San Miguel on September 15. Photo: EPA

Published: 2:25pm, 16 Sep 2016Updated: 9:30pm, 16 Sep 2016

The Philippines faced calls on Friday to investigate its firebrand president after a self-confessed hitman alleged Rodrigo Duterte ordered a thousand opponents and suspected criminals murdered when he was a city mayor.

The hitman told a Senate inquiry on Thursday that he and a group of policemen killed some 1,000 people in Davao city on Duterte’s orders from 1988-2013, with the politician himself shooting dead one of the victims.

These are serious allegations and we take them seriously, we look into them

US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner

“These are serious allegations and we take them seriously, we look into them,” said US State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner.

Critics say the alleged killings in Davao, where Duterte was mayor for more than 20 years, established a pattern that has spread nationwide under the new presidency.

The allegations surfaced as the Senate investigated alleged extra-judicial killings in an ongoing anti-drug crackdown that has led to more than 3,000 deaths in Duterte’s first 72 days in office.

US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch urged Manila to let United Nations investigators probe the claims.

“President Duterte can’t be expected to investigate himself, so it is crucial that the United Nations is called in to lead such an effort,” the monitor’s Asia director Brad Adams said in a statement.