Philippine prez: I’ll kill ‘billions’ to save cops

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday that he would not be intimidated by an impeachment complaint and threats of an international lawsuit for his anti-drug crackdown, adding he would rather have criminals dead even in the “thousands or billions” if they threaten law enforcers than see his men killed.

Duterte said he would only stop his crackdown, which has left thousands of mostly poor drug suspects dead, if traffickers halt their trade. He warned anew that he has ordered police to shoot criminals who would threaten the lives of law enforcers.

“Follow the law and we’re all right,” he said at a news confer- ence. “Drop the shabu [methamphetamine] and nobody will die tomorrow, but I will not be intimidated and I shall not be stopped by just . . . what? International Criminal Court? Impeachment?

“If you are a criminal and you are caught in the act, do not fight because if you place the guy’s life, place it in jeopardy of losing it, my order is to shoot you,” the toughtalking president warned.

A Philippine lawmaker filed an impeachment complaint against Duterte on Thursday because of the thousands of deaths in his crackdown, although the bid faces an uphill battle, with the president’s allies holding a majority in the House of Representatives.