Duterte: I’ll kill my son if he’s a drug smuggler
RODRIGO DUTERTE, the Philippines president, has said he will have his politician son killed if drug-trafficking allegations against him are true.
Mr Duterte, 72, has even promised to protect police officers who carry out the killing from prosecution.
Paolo Duterte, 42, appeared before a senate inquiry earlier this month to deny accusations made by an opposition lawmaker he was a member of a Chinese Triad who helped smuggle in a huge shipment of crystal methamphetamine from China.
His father did not refer to the allegations specifically but, at a speech in the presidential palace in Manila, reiterated his statement from last year’s election campaign that none of his children was involved in drugs, but would face the harshest punishment if they were.
“I said before my order was: ‘If I have children who are into drugs, kill them so people will not have anything to say,’” Mr Duterte said. “So I told Pulong [Paolo’s nickname]: ‘My order is to kill you if you are caught. And I will protect the police who kill you, if it is true.’”
Mr Duterte won the presidential elections last year on a brutal law-andorder platform in which he promised to eradicate illegal drugs by killing up to 100,000 traffickers and addicts.
Police have reportedly killed more than 3,800 people in anti-drug operations and thousands have been murdered in unexplained circumstances.