Duterte Says He Takes ‘Full Legal Responsibility’ for Philippine Drug War

The former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte defended his so-called war on drugs in testimony before the country’s Senate on Monday, saying he took “full legal responsibility” for the campaign of extrajudicial killings that left thousands dead and is being investigated by the International Criminal Court.

“I did what I had to do and whether you believe it or not, I did it for my country,” Mr. Duterte, whose six-year term ended in 2022, told senators. He said he offered “no apologies, no excuses” for the campaign, during which rights groups say as many as 30,000 people were executed by police officers and vigilantes.

Only a handful of people have been convicted in connection with the deaths, but the International Criminal Court in The Hague is investigating Mr. Duterte’s role in them. Even as he claimed responsibility for the bloodshed on Monday, Mr. Duterte showed the belligerence he was known for in office, saying that the campaign had been necessary to stop the spread of narcotics.

“I have warned all of you as a president, then and as a private citizen now,” he said. “Drugs will destroy the Filipino, it will destroy my country, and I will not allow it.”

Mr. Duterte’s testimony came five months into an inquiry by the House of Representatives into the drug war. Supporters of Mr. Duterte have dismissed those hearings as politically motivated, calling them part of a feud between his family and that of his successor, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Mr. Duterte has refused to testify at the House hearings, invoking his right against self-incrimination. Instead, he attended a hearing Monday in the considerably more divided Senate, where his staunch allies include Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, who oversaw the antidrug campaign as Mr. Duterte’s police chief.

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