MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday responded to reports that high-profile inmate Jaybee Sebastian is seeking to talk to him to disclose everything he knows about the Bilibid drug trade.

An unenthusiastic Duterte rebuffed Sebastian's request.

"I don't talk to criminals," Duterte told reporters at a press conference following his arrival from his working visit in Vietnam.

"He can go to the fiscal if he wants. Or maybe write a letter to Secretary Yasay if that is feasible," Duterte added.

• READ: Sebastian wants to tell all to Duterte, lawyer says

Duterte said convicts deserve what they are going through, saying they asked for it when they decided to get involved with drugs.

“There's always a comeuppance and the law of karma,” Duterte said.

Sebastian's lawyer earlier claimed that several government officials will be implicated if his client reveals what he knows.

"Several officials under the previous administration will be implicated in Sebastian's testimony since he was privy to the [drug] transactions,“ lawyer Eduardo Arriba said.

However, Arriba said his client only wants to disclose the information to Duterte directly.

Arriba said Sebastian will not ask for either amnesty or protection from the government in exchange for the information he describes as "important, material and almost conclusive."

"Para makita ng presidente na there are no strings attached. Gusto niya lang tumulong, sa presidente lang," Arriba said.

[We want to prove to the president that there are no strings attached. Sebastian wants to help, but only for the president.]

"We will leave it to the president. If the president will grant him immunity, then so be it," Arriba added.

Sebastian figured in a bloody stabbing incident that left one convicted crime lord killed and 3 others injured inside the national penitentiary.

• READ: Crime lord killed, 3 others hurt in Bilibid stabbing incident