--- description: Philippine presidential front-runner Rodrigo Duterte said he would also extend pardons to security forces who abuse human rights title: Philippines' Duterte Says He Will Pardon Himself for Murder image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt577ab9cd750e191d/698890f85f570f0b38b20ae4/gettyimages-524932064.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Philippine Presidential Front-Runner Duterte Says He Will Pardon Himself for Mass Murder by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2016 9:32 AM CUT  Philippine presidential favourite Rodrigo Duterte speaks during the 2016 Presidential Dialogue in Manila on April 27, 2016. Philippine presidential favourite Rodrigo Duterte speaks during the 2016 Presidential Dialogue in Manila on April 27, 2016.NOEL CELIS—AFP/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2016 9:32 AM CUT Philippine presidential front-runner Rodrigo Duterte waded into controversy yet again Thursday, [telling](http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/04/28/1577635/duterte-talks-dirty-big-business "undefined") a group of businesspeople in Manila that he would pardon himself for mass murder if elected. Duterte made the remarks during an hour-and-half-long speech to the Makati Business Club in which he also defended his reputation as a womanizer and made jokes about his genitals, the _Philippine Star_ reported. He referenced his economic strategy — which the crowd had primarily gathered to hear — only tangentially, instead focusing on his core platform of ridding the country of crime. **Read more:** [_The Next President of the Philippines Could Be ‘the Punisher’_](http://time.com/4285417/the-next-president-of-the-philippines-could-be-the-punisher/ "undefined") [According](https://in.news.yahoo.com/philippine-presidential-frontrunner-vows-pardon-104708441.html "undefined") to Agence France-Presse, the Davao City mayor — who has previously boasted of running vigilante death squads that killed over 1,700 people — added that he would pardon soldiers and policemen accused of human-rights abuses. “I will issue 1,000 pardons a day,” he said, before referencing a law that allows the President to pardon himself. “Pardon given to Rodrigo Duterte for the crime of multiple murder, signed Rodrigo Duterte,” he reportedly proclaimed, to laughs from the crowd. The divisive politician most recently gained notoriety for [joking](http://time.com/4306303/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-rape-joke-polls/ "undefined") about the 1989 rape of an Australian missionary, following which he not only [defended](http://time.com/4297234/rodrigo-duterte-davao-city-philippines-rape-president-election-jacqueline-hamill/ "undefined") his remarks, but [told](http://time.com/4302938/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-president-rape-jacqueline-hamill-women-chr/ "undefined") a women’s-rights group to “go to hell” and called his daughter a “[drama queen](http://time.com/4300382/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-daughter-rape-sara-inday-president-jacqueline-hamill/ "undefined")” when she spoke about her own alleged rape. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4310651/duterte-philippines-murder-pardon-himself/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4310651/duterte-philippines-murder-pardon-himself/"},"headline":"Philippine Presidential Front-Runner Duterte Says He Will Pardon Himself for Mass Murder","datePublished":"2016-04-28T09:32:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:06:03.761Z","description":"If he becomes President, Duterte said he will also extend pardons to security forces who abuse human rights","url":"https://time.com/4310651/duterte-philippines-murder-pardon-himself/","keywords":["Rape","Philippines","President","Speech","Rodrigo Duterte"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt577ab9cd750e191d/698890f85f570f0b38b20ae4/gettyimages-524932064.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt577ab9cd750e191d/698890f85f570f0b38b20ae4/gettyimages-524932064.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PHILIPPINES-VOTE","caption":"PHILIPPINES-VOTE","creditText":"NOEL CELIS—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4310651/duterte-philippines-murder-pardon-himself/","name":"Philippine Presidential Front-Runner Duterte Says He Will Pardon Himself for Mass Murder"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trudeau Confirms Canadian Killed By ISIS In The Phillippines","description":"Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed that the decapitated head of a Caucasian male recovered Monday night in the southern Philippines belong to one of two Canadians taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf militants in September.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JRhSiSVP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-25T20:24:58.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JRhSiSVP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4310651/duterte-philippines-murder-pardon-himself/","duration":"PT44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4310651/duterte-philippines-murder-pardon-himself/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```