Philippine President Says "My Critics Are Fools, I Will Continue Killing Drug Dealers"

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday defended his threat to kill criminals as 'perfect' and vowed no let-up in his war on crime, as the death toll surged past 3,700.

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said Thursday she was 'deeply concerned' about the violence, and signaled Duterte could face prosecution by her body for his incitements to kill.

But Duterte launched a typically defiant counter-attack on Friday, defending his rhetoric and the crime war that is seeing more that 1,000 people killed every month.

'There is nothing wrong in threatening criminals to death. By that statement alone: "You criminals, I will kill you. Do not fool around." It is a perfect statement,' Duterte said.

Describing his critics as 'fools', Duterte reiterated his position he was not breaking any domestic laws by threatening to kill criminals and pledged the crime war would continue until there were no more illegal drugs in society.

'I will not stop. Be sure of it, you can cast it in whatever stone. I will not stop until the last pusher, until the last drug lord is taken away.'