DHAKA: The Philippines independent human rights watchdog has said it will investigate claims by President Rodrigo Duterte that he personally killed drug suspects while mayor of Davao.
The Commission on Human Rights will also examine reports that so-called death squads killed several hundred people in the southern city, reports BBC.
Duterte confirmed to the BBC last week that he shot dead three men.
Since being elected in May, he has waged a brutal anti-drugs crackdown.
Critics say he has encouraged police, vigilantes and mercenaries to shoot suspected drug dealers and users on sight. Nearly 6,000 people are said to have been killed.
Duterte was mayor of Davao for two decades, during which time he earned a reputation for harshly suppressing crime and was accused of sponsoring death squads.
On Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Mr Duterte's claims “clearly constitute murder” and he called on authorities to investigate.
Jose Gascon, who heads the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, said on Wednesday a team of investigators would look into the matter.
“Law enforcement agencies... must investigate as a matter of course any information that suggests that a crime may have been committed with the view to ensuring that perpetrators are ultimately held accountable should the evidence warrant it,” Gascon said.
During Duterte's time as mayor of Davao, the commission investigated claims that he ran death squads that targeted petty criminals, but no criminal charges were filed.
Earlier this month, Duterte told a group of business leaders that in Davao “I used to do it [kill] personally. Just to show to the guys [police] that if I can do it, why can't you”.
His spokesman later dismissed the comments as “tough talk” and denied that Duterte had killed anyone.
But speaking to the BBC hours later, Duterte said, “I killed about three of them... I don't know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened and I cannot lie about it.”
BDST: 1905 HRS, DEC 22, 2016
AP
