Jail me, hang me: Philippines' Duterte firm he won't answer to International Court of Criminal

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday challenged International Criminal Court to jail him or hang him over alleged extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs as he maintained his firm stand that he will not honour the court investigation.

Duterte said, he is "responsible to the Filipino" and they will only judge him.

In a speech to military cadets, Duterte said, "You do not scare me that you will jail me in the International Criminal Court. I will never allow myself to answer these whites."

"I will never, never, never answer any question coming from you. It's bulls**t to me. I am only responsible to the Filipino. Filipinos will judge."

He added, "And if you hang me for all what I did, go ahead. It will be my pleasure."

His remarks were the latest vows of defiance against the court in The Hague that has yet to decide whether to investigate him over thousands of deaths in his crackdown, during which activists say crimes against humanity were committed.

Duterte has also blasted the United Nations after its human rights body approved a resolution in July to investigate alleged abuses in the Philippines.

In February 2018, ICC announced a preliminary examination into the drug killings, to which Duterte responded by cancelling his country's membership of the court.

In a scheduled December 5 report on its activities worldwide, the ICC said it had "significantly advanced" its examination and aimed to finalise it in 2020, then decide whether to seek a formal investigation.

Human rights groups say Duterte's anti-drug crackdown had led to systematic executions and police cover-ups. Police reject that and say the nearly 7,000 people they have killed were armed drug suspects who resisted arrest.