Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he takes "full legal responsibility" for his war on drugs that killed thousands.

Duterte appeared at a Senate hearing on Monday. Philippine lawmakers are probing the blood-soaked crackdown he launched during his six-year presidency from 2016. The government says the campaign left more than 6,000 people dead.

Duterte said: "I and I alone take full legal responsibility. I would be the one in jail, not the policemen who followed my order."

But Duterte didn't offer any apologies, saying he did what he had to do for his country.

Outside the Senate, relatives and families of the victims gathered calling for justice.

The International Criminal Court has also been investigating the antidrug campaign as a possible crime against humanity.

But the Philippines says the court is a threat to the country's sovereignty and it "will not lift a finger" to help the inquiry. Manila left the court in 2019.