President Rodrigo Duterte admitted on Monday if he could have his way, he could have killed millions of drug addicts instead of providing a budget of P1-billion for their rehabilitation.

In a speech during the mass oathtaking of government officials in Malacanang, Duterte said that P1 billion of the P5 billion from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation is for rehabilitation of drug addicts.

"Then look at the irony of life, I released P1 billion for these… drug addicts. Because the community-based treatment or rehab there, whatever is going on there, they don't have money to buy medicine. So just imagine, P1 billion which could have been used for something like feeding the hungry, went to the idiots," he said.

"I want to kill all of them, but we will have a scandal. So I had to subsidize ( their rehabilitation)," he added.

The number of drug dependents and pushers who surrendered to the authorities for the past six months since Duterte assumed office has breached one million.

Duterte estimated there are four million Filipinos who are into illegal drugs.

He said the Philippines was in narco-politics two elections ago.

He has accused Senator Leila de Lima, his number one critic, as the highest elective official who has been engaged in illegal drugs. She allegedly benefited from the drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was still the Justice secretary during the previous administration. De Lima denied the allegation.

Duterte, who has been keeping a thick list of officials allegedly are engaged in illegal drugs, said he would call the mayors and he would ask them if they are in the list.

If they are on the list, he warned that he would kill them or resign.

Duterte said he did not care even if "I might go down on the history as the butcher."

Some foreign governments and local and international human rights groups have been criticizing Duterte for his bloody war on illegal drugs.

Over 6,000 people, who were allegedly involved in the drug menace, have been killed in the drug war. They either died in police operations or were killed by other people.

Duterte said he would make public the list, which contains the names of some 6,000 barangay officials, mayors, governors, and policemen, among others, who were allegedly involved in illegal drugs. Celerina Monte/DMS