President Rodrigo Duterte. Reuters

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday addressed fresh claims that he ordered killings when he was still mayor of Davao City.

Retried SPO3 Arturo Lascañas, a self-confessed leader of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS), earlier this week claimed that he killed on orders of Duterte and that he was paid for every successful hit.

Addressing Lascañas' allegations for the first time, Duterte said it is true that criminals were indeed killed in his city during his more than 20-year reign, but he said the killings were carried out in legitimate police operations.

“Ingon anaay testigos nga 'killed by the hundreds' (Ang sabi ng testigo, 'killed by the hundreds). Tama nga. That is true. Twenty-three years akong mayor kahahabol ng droga. Dapat dumating iyan sa libo, eh sabi niya by the hundreds lang. Why would I deny that?”

(This witness, he said hundreds were killed. That is true. In the 23 years I was mayor, I was running after the illegal drug trade. In fact, the deaths should run by the thousands. He said the deaths only ran by the hundreds. Why would I deny that?)

He said he licensed the police to kill, but only if a drug suspect would turn violent and put the lives of authorities at risk.

Duterte has addressed the Davao Death Squad many times and has given conflicting statements about it. Critics say the anti-crime drive he implemented in his city is being adopted throughout the country, resulting in 7,000 people killed in the war on drugs so far.

Aside from Lascañas, self-confessed DDS hitman Edgar Matobato earlier surfaced and testified that the longtime Davao City mayor had indeed ordered the killings of criminals and even political enemies.

Both Lascañas and Matobato also claimed that Duterte ordered the bombing of a mosque in Davao City.

They also accused Duterte of ordering the killing of Jun Pala, a hard-hitting critic of the longtime Davao City mayor.

A Senate panel is set to probe Lascañas claims next week.