He said: "I killed about three of them... I don't know how many bullets from my gun went inside their bodies. It happened and I cannot lie about it."
His statement came hours after his spokesman denied that Mr Duterte had personally killed anyone.
The recent controversy began on Wednesday at the president's palace.
He told a group of business leaders gathered there: "In Davao I used to do it [kill] personally. Just to show to the guys [police] that if I can do it why can't you.
