Five Filipinos arrested for death threats against Rodrigo Duterte on social media
- The warrantless arrests come about a month after Duterte appeared to give police permission to ‘shoot dead’ violators of the country’s coronavirus lockdown
- Observers say the arrests are illegal, while a doctor has called for more understanding of people making outlandish threats under quarantine
On May 11, National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Ronnel Mas, a 25-year-old public school teacher who had tweeted that he would pay 50 million pesos (US$988,000) to anyone who would assassinate the president.
On May 12, police in the southern province of Cebu arrested Maria Ceron, 26, for offering 75 million pesos for a hit job on Duterte. And on May 19, police arrested a young man, who was not named, for writing on Facebook: “200 million to anybody who kills Duterte. Bring me his head here in my barangay (village).”
Observers have said the arrests are “illegal”, while doctors have called for more understanding of people making outlandish statements while under quarantine.
Lawyer Christian Monsod, who helped write the country’s constitution in 1987, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer: “The arrests were unconstitutional. No warrant of arrest. No complaint. No basis for a warrantless arrest.