MANILA, Philippines — The controversial killing of a school boy in the hands of Caloocan City cops has a “twist,” President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday.
According to police who seized the teenager in an anti-drug operation last August, 17-year-old high school student Kian Loyd delos Santos violently resisted arrest, prompting them to return fire.
But this report came under fire after a CCTV footage aired by television networks showed the minor being dragged by two plainclothes cops to an alley where his dead body was later found with a gun in his left hand.
READ: Boy, 17, killed in Caloocan drug operation
According to Duterte, there’s more to Delos Santos’ case that the public will know once trial starts.
“Kagaya ‘yung kay Kian na estudyante. Well, you will know the truth, at least the version of the police, ‘pag mag-umpisa na ang trial,” Duterte said in a freestyle speech.
“But it will not excuse or justify killing a person whose hands are raised, ready to surrender, or kneeling down. Because that is really murder. Pero may twist diyan,” he added.
The president earlier said in a media interview last August that the supposed police intelligence that Delos Santos was a drug runner is not enough to stand in court and may even be inaccurate.
He also admitted that it is possible that some abuses have been committed by government forces enforcing his anti-drug crackdown.
Amid simmering public furor over the teenager’s death, Duterte nonetheless met Delos Santos’ parents in Malacañang to assure them of justice.
READ: Rody meets with Kian’s parents
The Department of Justice has terminated its preliminary investigation on the murder and torture raps against the Caloocan cops tagged in the case.
Duterte—who easily won the race to Malacañang last year on a promise to use deadly force to wipe out crime and narcotics—has stoked international alarm for activating his fierce anti-drug campaign.
Human rights watchdogs said most of the fatalities are extrajudicial killings committed by cops and unknown assailants. But the government has vehemently denied this, saying the police are only killing in self-defense while drug ring members are silencing potential witnesses.
Filipinos have mostly backed Duterte’s drug war, but satisfaction in the chief executive recently suffered from its sharpest dip since he took power following the slay of the minor and allegations of hidden personal wealth.
Meanwhile, in the same impromptu speech on Thursday, Duterte took a swipe at his political opponents for supposedly portraying him as a murderer.
Nonetheless, he admitted that he would kill to “preserve” the country.
“Para pini-picture akong killer. Talagang killer ako. T*** i… You know, you drink Tang when you are thirsty,” he remarked.
“You do anything that will destroy that equation. Then, ‘yung sabi nila na pumapatay ako? Talagang papatayin kita.”
READ: Duterte decries EJK tag: 'I've been demonized'