Kill a Communist and Receive £340, Philippines Leader Duterte Tells Nation
Rodrigo Duterte also said the communists are easier to hit than birds because they have bigger heads.
His latest crass remarks, which the government issued to reporters yesterday, came after human rights groups condemned him this week for saying troops should shoot female communist guerrillas in the genitals to render them “useless”.
Mr Duterte said in a speech to troops at an air base in central Cebu city, referring to New People’s Army guerrillas: “You kill an NPA today and I’ll pay you 25,000 pesos.
“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 percent.”
His comments drew 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.
Mr Duterte added: “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?” Once again, his remarks made the crowd laugh.
However, his incendiary comments encourage government forces to commit war crimes instead of instilling a culture of accountability in accordance with international law, Human Rights Watch said.
Carlos Conde of the US-based rights group said: “Duterte’s pronouncements normalise the idea that government security forces can do as they wish to defeat their enemies, including committing summary executions and sexual violence.”
The president has controversially joked about the gang rape of a murdered Australian missionary. And he boasted about his womanising ways spurred on by Viagra.
Reports suggest that about 3,800 people have been killed by police since he was elected in 2016, some were attacked by vigilantes who had permission from the police.
Mr Duarte has even bragged about taking part in murder himself, alongside police, when he was mayor of Davao.
The volatile president turned up the rhetoric against communist guerrillas after peace talks brokered by Norway collapsed last year when he protested against continuing rebel attacks on government forces.
When a rebel leader recently warned that the guerrillas could kill one soldier a day, Mr Duterte countered by threatening to kill five rebels daily and offering to train tribesmen as militias and give them bounties to slay the insurgents.
Mr Duterte is already under international criticism and is facing a preliminary investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for thousands of deaths in the war on drugs he initiated after becoming president two years ago.
He has lashed out in his response, including asking why the ICC was focusing on him when atrocities were unravelling elsewhere.
Mr Duterte, a former state prosecutor, then talked about Muslims fleeing from violence and persecution in Burma.
He said: “There are Rohingyas who are being slaughtered, but they only chose to indict me. OK, you asked for it, let’s have a trial. I will cross-examine you.”
Philippines' Duterte Swiftly Condemned for Misogynist Order to Shoot Women 'in the Vagina'
https://www.alternet.org/philippines-duterte-swiftly-condemned-misogyni…
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issued a vicious order to his soldiers, telling them not to kill female rebel fighters but instead to shoot them in the vagina.
“There’s a new order coming from the mayor, ‘We will not kill you. We will just shoot you in the vagina,’” he said in a speech to about 200 of his soldiers, according to the Guardian. He said women would be "useless" without vaginas.
The president reportedly said the word "vagina" repeatedly throughout the speech, eliciting laughter from the crowd. But his office later redacted the word from its transcripts of the event.
"Duterte['s] latest nasty remark openly encourages violence against women, contributes to the impunity on such, and further confirms himself as the most dangerous macho-fascist in the government right now," said Rep. Emmi de Jesus, a representative with the women's group Gabriela. "He has further presented himself as the epitome of misogyny and fascism terribly rolled in one."
Duterte has previously made derogatory and violent comments about women, including seeming to sanction rape. Some of his defenders have said he's just being "funny."
Under his leadership, the Philippines has seen a brutal war on drugs characterized by widespread violence and human rights violations, according to Human Rights Watch, which estimates that more than 12,000 people have been killed under the policy so far.
Carlos Conde, a Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch, said Duterte's statement “encourages state forces to commit sexual violence during armed conflict, which is a violation of international humanitarian law.”