‘Shoot them dead’: Duterte warns lockdown violators
Published on: Friday, April 03, 2020
By: Reuters
Photo: Reuters
MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (pic) has warned violators of coronavirus lockdown measures they could be shot for causing trouble and said abuse of medical workers was a serious crime that would not be tolerated.In a televised address, Duterte said it was vital everyone cooperates and follows home quarantine measures, as authorities try to slow the contagion and spare the country’s fragile health system from being overwhelmed.ADVERTISEMENT
The Philippines has recorded 96 coronavirus deaths and 2,311 confirmed cases, all but three in the past three weeks, with infections now being reported in the hundreds every day.
“It is getting worse. So once again I’m telling you the seriousness of the problem and that you must listen,” Duterte said late on Wednesday.
“My orders to the police and military ... if there is trouble and there’s an occasion that they fight back and your lives are in danger, shoot them dead.”
“Is that understood? Dead. Instead of causing trouble, I will bury you.”ADVERTISEMENT
His comments came after media reports of a disturbance and several arrests on Wednesday of residents in a poor area of Manila who were protesting about insufficient government food aid.
Activists deride Duterte over his fierce rhetoric and accuse him of inviting violence and vigilantism, as shown in his war on drugs, during which police and mystery gunmen have killed thousands of people accused of using or selling drugs.
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Police say their actions in the anti-drug campaign have been lawful.
Duterte’s office typically calls his remarks hyperbole to underline his point.
The national police chief on Thursday said police understood that Duterte was demonstrating his seriousness about public order, and no one would be shot.
Meanwhile, rights group Amnesty International on Thursday said that President Rodrigo Duterte should immediately retract remarks that imply authorities are allowed to kill quarantine violators, saying these could lead to abuses during the quarantine across Luzon and in parts of the Visayas and Mindanao.
Duterte’s supporters have said the remarks were only directed towards leftists, whom the president has accused of causing trouble during the quarantine, which is now on its third week on Luzon.
“It is deeply alarming that President Duterte has extended a policy of shoot to kill, a devastating hallmark of his presidency, to law enforcement agencies in the community quarantine. Deadly, unchecked force should never be referred to as a method to respond to an emergency such as the Covid- 19 pandemic,” Amnesty’s Philippine Section Director Butch Olano said in a Thursday release.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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In a televised address Wednesday night, the president alluded to but did not outright mention the arrest of 20 protesters in Quezon City earlier in the day.
“My orders to the police and military, as well as barangay officials, that if someone causes trouble and your lives are at risk, shoot them dead. Do you understand? Dead,” Duterte said.