Gun down a drug dealer and I’ll give you a medal, pledges president-elect

Vigilantes will get a medal if they shoot and kill a drug dealer, the newly elected president of the Philippines has said. Those who gun down dealers who resist arrest or threaten them would be immune from prosecution, Rodrigo Duterte said in a nationally televised speech. “Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun — you have my support,” said Mr Duterte as he urged the public to help him in his fight against crime. "Shoot him and I’ll give you a medal,“ he told a huge crowd in the southern city of Davao.

If you’re still into drugs, I will kill you, don’t take this as a joke. I’m not trying to make you laugh, son of a bitch, I will really kill you.

Rodrigo Duterte

The outspoken and often foul-mouthed 71-year-old won the May 9 presidential election on a bold promise to end crime and corruption within six months of his presidency. As he prepares his six-year term on June 30, he used his victory speech to repeat his plan to offer huge bounties to those who can turn in drug lords, dead or alive. He also threatened to humiliate three police generals based in the national police camp in Manila unless they resigned over their involvement in crime. But Mr Duterte’s gung-ho approach has alarmed activists who fear the anti-crime crackdown risks widespread human rights violations.

duterte