MANILA, the Philippines — Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte confirmed a “death squad” existed under his watch to control crime when he was Davao City mayor, but gave conflicting accounts of its makeup, first saying it was run by police officers, then by gangsters.

When Duterte was president, two men including a former police officer had testified before the Senate that they were part of an alleged hit squad in Davao they said killed at Duterte’s behest, but legislators at…