Philippines: Duterte vows death penalty, ‘shoot-to-kill’ orders for hard criminals
Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte.
A member of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force. Pic: AP
16th May 2016
INCOMING Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has pledged to reinstate the death penalty and to authorize “shoot-to-kill” measures for security forces in a move to fulfill his mandate.
On Sunday, the Davao city mayor made his first announcement following his electoral victory since May 9, in which he told a press conference that the threats he made during the campaign were not mere lip service.
This was also part of his campaign pledge to tackle crime drastically within a six-month time frame if he took office.
“What I will do is urge Congress to restore [the] death penalty by hanging,” the 71-year-old president-elect was quoted saying in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The “shoot-to-kill” orders, he said, will be meted out against members of the criminal underworld who were violent when resisting arrest.
“If you resist, show violent resistance, my order to police [will be] to shoot to kill. Shoot to kill for organized crime. You heard that? Shoot to kill for every organized crime,” he said, adding that army marksmen, or snipers, would be involved in the slaying of the criminals.
Under his administration, Duterte said there would also be a 2am curfew on alcohol consumption in public, and children would be barred from being alone on the streets in the late hours.
He said the parents of the children caught wandering the streets at night would be arrested and imprisoned for “abandonment”.
The Philippines had repealed capital punishment after in 2006 after strong lobbying from the Catholic Church during then-president Gloria Arroyo’s tenure. Now, Duterte plans to revive the penalty to cover a myriad of crimes, including narcotics, rape, murder and robbery.
He said death by hanging was the preferred method for execution as it was more humane compared to a firing squad which was considered to be a waste of bullets.
Duterte’s heavy-handed approach to crime-busting earned him a reputation as “The Punisher” inTIME magazine.
Last year, Duterte admitted shooting several criminals, including the kidnappers of a pawnshop owner’s daughter. Duterto also claimed he had pushed a drug suspect out of a flying helicopter.
