Duterte offers bounty for rebels to save on war costs

Communist guerrilla leader says Philippine president’s comments ‘words of a thug’

MANILA, PHILIPPINES— The Philippine president offered a nearly $500 (U.S.) bounty for each communist rebel killed by government forces to save on anti-insurgency costs and said insurgents are easier to hit than birds because they have bigger heads.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest crass remarks, which the government issued to reporters late Wednesday, came after human rights groups condemned him this week for saying troops should shoot female communist guerrillas in the genitals to render them “useless.”

“You kill an NPA today and I’ll pay you 25,000” pesos, Duterte said in a speech at an airbase in central Cebu city, referring to New People’s Army guerrillas.

“I was computing that if this drags on for four years . . . it’ll be very expensive because it’s war. If I’ll just pay 25,000 (pesos) for a life, I can save about 47 per cent,” he said to laughter from the crowd.

There was no elaboration on how he came up with those figures and whether or how the government would pay for claimed kills. Backing up his offer, the brash-talking president encouraged state forces to go for the kill.

“If you work really hard to crawl across the forest, you’ll surely be able to shoot even just one. If you can shoot a bird above you, then how much more an NPA whose head is so big?” Duterte said, again eliciting laughter from the crowd.

Regional rebel commander Jaime Padilla, who uses the nom de guerre Ka Diego, said Duterte wouldn’t scare the guerrillas into ending their uprising even if he offers a million pesos for each rebel killed, because the rebellion has been fuelled by deep social ills such as poverty for nearly a century. “These are not remarks of a sane president,” Padilla said by telephone.

“These are words of a thug or a goon, who reigns like a king in our country.”

He said the guerrillas remain open to resuming stalled talks with the administration despite the president’s “fascist” style. Human Rights Watch said Duterte’s remarks encourage government forces to commit war crimes instead of instilling a culture of accountability in accordance with international law.