Kill a commie and claim a $650 reward, says Duterte
PHILIPPINES: President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has offered citizens a bounty to kill communist rebels, days after threatening to shoot female insurgents in the genitals to render them ‘‘useless’’.
Duterte, whose controversial remarks have become routine, has invited the Lumad people of the southern Philippines to shoot members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the longest-running communist insurgency.
‘‘I’m placing a premium ... 25,000 pesos,’’ he announced in a speech. The sum is equivalent to about NZ$650. ‘‘If you work really hard to crawl across the forest, you’ll surely be able to shoot just one.
‘‘If you can shoot a bird above you, then how much more an NPA whose head is so big? 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 for a life, I can save about 47 per cent.’’
In a speech to troops in Manila last week, the president addressed female members of the NPA, whose leader threatened to kill five soldiers a day unless the government returned to peace talks. ‘‘We won’t kill you,’’ Duterte said. ‘‘We will just shoot your vagina. If there is no vagina, it would be useless.’’
His comments were denounced by human rights organisations.
‘‘Duterte’s offer of a bounty for killing communist rebels ... encourages war crimes such as shooting enemy fighters who have surrendered or are wounded,’’ Carlos Conde, of Human Rights Watch, said.
‘‘Duterte’s pronouncements normalise the idea government security forces can do as they wish to defeat their enemies, including committing summary executions and sexual violence.’’
Duterte has boasted about his Viagra-charged womanising, and joked about the gang rape of a murdered Australian missionary.
About 3800 people have been killed by police since he was elected in 2016, with thousands more killed by vigilantes acting with police co-operation. Duterte has publicly admitted that in the past, he took part in killings of suspected criminals, accompanied by police, when he was mayor of Davao.
He faces a preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court at the Hague, to which he has responded with angry defiance, saying: ‘‘Let’s have a trial. I will cross-examine you.’’
- The Times