Philippines’ Duterte announces ‘dead or alive’ bounties on policemen who helped mayor

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday announced “dead-or-alive” bounties worth US$40,000 each for policemen he accused of helping an accused narco-politician, and said he preferred they be killed.

The call for police officers to kill their colleagues is the latest inflammatory comment by Duterte in his controversial drug war, which has claimed thousands of lives, and comes shortly after a meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Duterte made the offer during a speech at national police headquarters, offering two million pesos (US$40,000) for an unspecified number of officers who allegedly helped a mayor killed in an anti-drug operation on July 30.

“Each of those policemen carry on their heads now, I am announcing, two million per head and you are free to go on leave [to pursue them],” Duterte told the officers in the audience.

“I’ll cut short my speech so that you will have a chance for a crack at the two million for those idiots.”

Duterte added the bounty would be paid if the policemen were found “dead or alive – better dead”.