Duterte killing obsession possible personality disorder - Pimentel

Metro Manila, Philippines - For some senators, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s remarks that certain incumbent senators should be killed to make way for his senatorial candidates was merely a joke.

On the other hand, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said it could indicate a potential mental health issue.

“[A] person’s obsession with the topic of death and killing, mentioning it every time he or she speaks, is a worrying sign of a serious personality disorder,” Pimentel said in a text message to reporters on Monday, Feb. 17.

He also said the Justice Department and the National Bureau of Investigation should look into Duterte's remarks to check if these were a criminal offense.

“Let DOJ and NBI do their work. They should know if given the facts whether a crime has been committed or not,” Pimentel said.

“If there is no crime whatsoever then let us drop the issue,” he added.

Pimentel and Duterte were once partymates in the former ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), which split into two factions leading up to the 2022 presidential elections. The Duterte group now refers to itself as PDP.

At the PDP proclamation rally last week, Duterte said, "Patayin natin ang mga senador ngayon para mabakante (Let's just kill senators now to create vacancies).” He said this will make sure that PDP candidates could secure seats in the Senate.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros expressed disbelief in the former president’s words.

“Ano? Ano daw? Ano bang magiging reaksyon ng mga tao na hirap na hirap na nga sa buhay… tapos ang sagot ng isa dyan ay dagdag na karahasan? Talagang ewan ko lang sa kanila,” Hontiveros said in a chance interview on Saturday.

[Translation: What? What did he say? What kind of response can people, who are already struggling in life, give... and then one person’s answer is more violence? I really don’t know what to make of them.]

Even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned his predecessor’s remarks in a campaign sortie at the weekend.

“‘[Y]ung ibang tao ang iniisip lang nila pagka – ang kaisa-isang solusyon sa lahat ng problema ay pumatay pa ng Pilipino. Nakakapagtaka kung bakit ganoon… Sana naman, huwag na tayong babalik sa landas na umaapaw na dugo ng mga inosenteng mga bata na inagawan ng kinabukasan dahil sa kanilang pagpapatay,” Marcos said.

[Translation: Well, it’s hard that some people think the only way to solve problems is killing Filipinos. I wonder why… I hope we don’t go back to that path anymore - where innocent children are robbed of their future and killed.]

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada shrugged off Duterte’s remarks.

“Mapagbiro lang talaga si PRRD. Non issue for me [PRRD is just a joker. It’s a non-issue for me],” he said in a text message.

Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr, a reelectionist, responded with another joke.

“Sa tingin ko ay bulaklak lang ng bibig ni FPRRD yan. That's just how he expresses himself. Pero hindi naman tayo natatakot sa ganyan dahil may Agimat tayo. Hehehe [I think it’s just a figure of speech from FPRRD. That’s just how he expresses himself. But we’re not scared of that because we have an amulet. Hehehe],” he said in a separate text message.

Duterte is under investigation by the International Criminal Court for thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings during his brutal war on drugs.

He has made various public statements on the issue, even admitting to ordering some killings and carrying out others himself when he was mayor of Davao City. However, his allies have argued that these were figures of speech.