SOCHI – Before an international audience, President Duterte said he is not a killer as some international human rights groups and the Philippine political opposition have painted him to be.

“I must end by just disabusing the minds of people. I am not a killer. Some say, ‘A killer of what?’ Maybe… you know what it is,” the President said at the end of his lengthy speech at the Valdai Discussion Club at the conference hall of the Krasnaya Polyana Mountain Resort here on Thursday evening.

If there is something he is good at, Duterte said in jest, it is his fondness for women.

“You are all practicing it. Killing girls; maybe, woman. We are good at that. I have yet to kill one human being. When I say I will kill you, well, that’s a statement coming from the mouth of a President,” he said, before a moderator prompted him anew to end his speech.

There was no cussing but Duterte almost brought the house down when he spoke before the Valdai Discussion Club to defend his reputation.

Duterte joined Russian President Vladimir Putin, Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on stage for the discussions that lasted around two hours.

The event delved on Asia’s role as a key driver in global growth.

Before some world leaders and experts, Duterte reiterated what he has been telling the Filipino people: that he is ready to be killed or hanged if found guilty of any unjustified deaths under his watch.

Even Putin suggested to the moderator to again ask the 74-year-old Philippine leader his views on the growing influence of the East on world affairs.

“Ask the President of Philippines. Can we equal west to the east? No, seriously. No joke,” Putin said after he answered a round of questions from the audience.

“President Duterte, can you actually equal west to the east? And can we talk about sort of a unisex approach so to say? East and west, this division. Is this a thing of the past or it’s a natural division to have west versus east?”

At this point, Duterte discussed the balance of powers between Eastern and Western nations.

“I think that there has always been a divide between the east and the west, culturally and financially, except for China which has really been doing great all these years, with so many dynasties,” he said.

“So any attempt that would force or persuade even a nation for them to adopt the Western ways is always suspect and that’s a problem,” Duterte added.

Prior to this, Duterte was asked how the Philippines has drastically reshaped its foreign policy when it shifted to China and Russia and veered away from its traditional ally, the United States.

Duterte, at one point, joked that he was invoking his freedom of religion when reminded to finish his lengthy answer to the first question.

Meanwhile, Andrei Bystritskty, chairman of the board of Valdai Club, said the group has shown interest in Duterte’s style of leadership.

“Mr. Duterte proving (to be a) very famous politician and first of all is because we like the Philippines, it’s a very attractive country and we’re very happy to invite him,” Bystritskty said on the sidelines of the forum.

Asked why Duterte’s view of the world is important at this point, Bystritskty said it is “because he’s a leader of a fast developing country and his point of view is important.”

“Perhaps he has changed direction of development of Philippines. Philippines now more international, more open, more independent,” Bystritskty added.

Meanwhile, the complainants against President Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) have urged the body in its second supplemental pleading to open an investigation into “Crimes against Humanity of Murder and Inhumane Acts in the Philippines” to help halt the killings in the war on drugs in the country.

Complainant Rise Up for Life and for Rights, which includes the families of the victims of extrajudicial killings, said the ICC should open the probe as it claimed that the number of deaths in the Philippines continues to rise.

It also submitted additional evidence for the complaint that was submitted in August 2018. The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) has been assisting the families of victims.

“We allege that the PNP manipulated the numbers, definitions and categorizations of deaths in their attempt to shield the perpetrators and cover up the actual number of deaths,” the group said.

It pointed out that the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced that the number of deaths in drug-related police operations was 6,600 but later modified it so that the official of deaths would be 5,526 as of June 30, 2019.

“On the whole, children are innocent victims of the war on drugs,” the group said as it pointed out that at least 74 minors were killed either as direct targets or as a resulting casualty of the anti-drug campaign.

The group added that the United Nations Human Rights Council has already authorized UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to examine the evidence of thousands of deaths in the Philippines and to present a report next year. Christina Mendez, Rhodina Villanueva