‘Barangay captain should fight drugs and crime’: Philippines to arm community leaders as crackdown widens

The Philippines’ interior ministry said on Wednesday it plans to acquire pistols for community leaders willing to fight crime and drugs, prompting concern it could fuel even more violence in the country’s notoriously bloody crackdown.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he was considering arming community leaders, known as barangay captains, after consulting the police and intelligence community.

Last week he vowed to provide the same legal protection to barangay captains as he did soldiers or police, and they “will never go to jail” if they shot suspected criminals in the performance of their duty.

Martin Dino, the interior department undersecretary responsible for the country’s 42,000 barangays, said handguns would be provided for free, or private purchases subsidised, but only for barangay captains not involved in illegal drugs.

Duterte has repeatedly said thousands of community officials were involved in the trade, without elaborating.