MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday slammed anew critics of his war on drugs, saying the deaths of two teenagers in questionable police operations do not mean it has become the police force's policy to kill innocent civilians.

Duterte was reacting to Sen. Risa Hontiveros’ statements at a Senate hearing Tuesday, where the lawmaker said the killing of teens Kian Loyd Delos Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz suggest that there is a “system to the killings” and a “policy dictating the culture of killings in the country.”

“Dalawang patay. Palagay na natin, pinatay --- murder o… I ask Hontiveros, ‘Is that already a policy? Is that the baseline of a policy?’ Paka-bobo naman niya,” Duterte told reporters.

“One swallow makes a summer? Two killings makes it a policy of the Republic of the Philippines? Bakit kami mag-patay ng inosente?”

The government has been dealing with growing public outrage after the killings of 17-year-old Delos Santos and 19-year-old Arnaiz in Caloocan City last month.

Delos Santos was shot dead after allegedly fighting cops conducting an anti-narcotics sweep last Aug. 16. Witnesses, however, claimed the Grade 12 student was mauled, given a gun and told to run for his life.

• READ: PNP, PAO agree on autopsy: Kian already down when shot

Arnaiz, on the other hand, was killed in a shootout allegedly after robbing a taxi driver on Aug. 17, the same night he left their home in Cainta, Rizal. A police spot report said marijuana leaves were recovered from the teenager.

A forensic examination, however, found signs of torture on his body.

The Public Attorney’s Office cited a "pattern" in the slay of the two.

Duterte refused to comment on the Arnaiz case, saying he has yet to get full details of the incident. Earlier, he vowed to hold police accountable for Delos Santos' killing if irregularity is proven.

The President also accused Hontiveros and other members of the opposition of using the deaths of the teenagers as opportunities to attack the government and its war on crime and drugs.

“Ang problema sa inyo, ‘yung pinapakialaman niyo, ‘yung patayan, ‘yung magamit ninyo sa politika,” he said.

“For example, trying hard to get the cadaver of the --- ‘yung Kian --- to parade it to EDSA. Politikang barrio,” said Duterte.

Delos Santos' burial on Aug. 26 had drawn hundreds who called for an end to killings in the drug war.

• READ: Farewell, Kian: Slain teen laid to rest as family cries for justice

Duterte said Hontiveros was merely displaying “pretend grief” and “hypocrisy” in expressing outrage over the two teenage boys’ deaths.

“‘Yung limang pinatay doon sa Bulacan, na pati ‘yung one-year-old na bata pinakialaman, pinatay. Why is that… Why don’t I hear… I do not hear her crying or even complaining that the police are not doing enough,” he said, in reference to the massacre of five family members in Bulacan in June.

Amid fresh criticism against the police, several lawmakers have proposed that policemen wear body cameras during police operations to make cops accountable for their every actions.

Duterte, meanwhile, said police should bring members of the media to all police operations.

“Bring the media at paunahin mo sila so that they can get the story from the beginning to the end. Kasi kung papasukin lang at tapos na ang barilan, sabi naman niyo, ‘Ah, tinapunan lang ‘yan ng baril diyan,’” he said.

Duterte, who has repeatedly promised to protect policemen who would be prosecuted for carrying out their job, recently toned down his rhetoric, saying “unlawful killing” is not allowed and that erring and abusive cops should not expect any support from him.

In the interview, Duterte said he does not believe the controversy surrounding the teenage boys’ killings would demoralize the police force.

“Now, if they have committed an excess of that duty, then they shall go to jail,” he said.