Duterte confronts Brosas' questioning at House inquiry: 'Ano ka pulis?' Screenshot from YouTube livestream

MANILA — Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday took exception to Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas' line of questioning at the 11th House quad committee hearing into his war on drugs. 

Brosas pressed Duterte to respond only with a yes or no when asked whether his illegal drugs crackdown, which left thousands dead, was patterned after the so-called "Davao Model."

Duterte initially responded by saying he "cannot control semantics." But Brosas insisted the former president answer with a yes or no, to which a seemingly irked Duterte replied, "Do not ask me to answer yes or no."

"You are not an investigator. Why are you asking me to answer yes or no? Ano ka, pulis?" he said.

Former police official Royina Garma in previous hearings alleged that Duterte sanctioned a national task force patterned after the "Davao Model," which provided financial rewards for drug war deaths, funded planned operations, and reimbursed operational expenses. 

Duterte denied Garma's allegations.

Police said the campaign left more than 6,000 people dead, but rights groups estimate tens of thousands of mostly poor men were killed by officers and vigilantes, often without proof they were linked to drugs.

While the crackdown has been widely condemned and sparked an international investigation, only nine police officers have been convicted for killing drug suspects.

The drug war has continued under Duterte's successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., though he has pushed for more emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.

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While the current and former president have had a bitter falling out, Marcos has stressed his government will not cooperate with the  International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating allegations that the killings were a state-sanctioned "crime against humanity". 

The Philippines quit the ICC in 2019 on Duterte's instructions, but the tribunal has said it has jurisdiction over killings before the pullout, as well as killings in Davao City when Duterte was mayor there, years before he became president.

— With a report from Agence France-Presse 

WATCH THE HOUSE QUAD COMM HEARING HERE: