‘Shoot him and I’ll give you a medal’ President orders CIVILIANS to gun down drug dealers
CRACKPOT Filipino president-elect Rodrigo Duterte has sparked outrage by saying he will award a medal to anybody who shoots and kills a drug dealer.
The controversial 71-year-old leader also said drug addicts could not be rehabilitated and referred to them as “sons of whores” in a shocking public rant.
Speaking at a victory rally, the president told hundreds of delirious onlookers to engage in vigilante justice by slaying any drug dealer they saw resisting arrest.
He said: “Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun, you have my support.
“Shoot him and I'll give you a medal.”
If you are involved in drugs, I will kill you. You son of a whore, I will really kill you
Duterte’s comments come after he rode to power on a wave of support for his anti-crime and corruption policies.
His promises to root out the criminals plaguing the Philippines struck a chord with voters but critics have said it will be impossible to achieve.
He also issued a stark warning to drug addicts, saying: “If you are involved in drugs, I will kill you. You son of a whore, I will really kill you.”
The hard-line politician also said anyone who turned in a drug lord to authorities, dead or alive, would receive a huge bounty.
Duterte, who is starting a six year term as president on June 30, ordered three police generals at the national police camp in Manila to resign for involvement in “unspecified crimes”.
He threatened to humiliate them in public if they did not step down.
His controversial comments came after Duterte was criticised for wolf-whistling and serenading female news reporter Mariz Umali last week, who branded his actions “improper”.
There is a suspicion of Duterte’s involvement with a motorcycle-riding assassin group called the “Davao death squad”, which has killed many criminals.
But human rights groups say the he has not been brought to justice because nobody will testify against him.