US$1,000 reward for every criminal killed: Philippine mayor offers bounties for slain criminals

Osmena’s pledge comes after Duterte, the long-time mayor of southern Davao, who led a touch crackdown on the city’s offenders

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epa05316238 Filipino Cebu City Mayor-elect Tomas Osmena speaks after handing over a reward money to Police officer Julius Regis (unseen) during reward ceremony rites in Cebu City, Philippines, 19 May 2016. The Police officer shoot two suspected robber few days ago in Cebu City. Tomas Osmena, mayor-elect of Cebu, the 'second city' of the Philippines, has offered the city's residents over $1,000 for every criminal they manage to kill, media reported Thursday."The reward is P5,000 (around $100) for wounding a criminal and P50,000 (over $1,000) for a dead criminal," Osmena said. "To get the P50,000, the criminal should be dead," added the mayor, who was elected in the May 9 According to Osmena, both police officers and general elections. civilians will receive the sum only if the killing is legal and the gun used is licensed. "There is a robbery. They (civilians) come to the rescue (of the victim and) shoot the robber," Osmeña elaborated. "What is important is that the robbers will be scar

Published: 6:08pm, 20 May 2016Updated: 6:07pm, 20 May 2016

The incoming mayor of a major Philippine city said on Friday he was offering bounties to police to kill criminals, deepening concerns of extrajudicial deaths under the rule of president-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

Tomas Osmena, incoming mayor of central Cebu city said he would pay policemen 50,000 pesos (HK$8,300) for each criminal they kill and 5,000 pesos for each one they wound.

“If you kill a criminal in the line of duty, [you’ll be rewarded], no questions asked. I’m there to assist the police, not to prosecute them,” Osmena said by telephone.

“That is my purpose: to instil fear in the criminals. If they want to commit crimes, they get into war with me. I will see to it that they will be casualties.”

Asked if such rewards might encourage vigilante killings, Osmena said: “I’m not going to suppress vigilantes.”

Osmena’s pledge comes after Duterte, the long-time mayor of southern Davao city, won the May 9 presidential elections in a landslide largely due to a controversial law-and-order platform headlined by a vow to kill tens of thousands of criminals.

US$1,000 reward for every criminal killed: Philippine mayor offers bounties for slain criminals

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Osmena’s pledge comes after Duterte, the long-time mayor of southern Davao, who led a touch crackdown on the city’s offenders

Osmena’s pledge comes after Duterte, the long-time mayor of southern Davao, who led a touch crackdown on the city’s offenders