MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is intending to raise the reward for killing communist rebels from P25,000 to P100,000.
Duterte, in a speech before the Chinese Filipino Business Club Monday night, said that he has to consult the military first before resuming peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines.
"And I will tell you, ‘pag sabi nila, 'ubusin na lang natin, Mayor.' Oh it's fine. Sabi ni (Joma) Sison, hambugero, 'kill one soldier a day.' Eh di sinabi ko, 'you kill one NPA and I'll give you P25,000,'" Duterte said.
"Kwenta-kwenta ko kung hanggang end of my term mas magastos. Bayaran ko na times active — they cannot be more than 3,000. Sa 25, makamura ako," he added.
Last week, PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar said that Duterte was serious when he offered government militias P25,000 for every communist rebel that they would kill.
The president said that he plans to increase the bounty for every communist killed so that they would resort to "killing each other."
"At next week, mag-increase 'yan. I will increase it to make it 30, then… I-increasan ko ng 100,000, sila na 'yung magpapatayan," Duterte said.
The Philippine government recently declared the CPP and its armed wing the NPA as terrorist groups. The declaration follows the cancellation of peace talks between the government and the communists.
An international rights organization raised concern over Duterte's offer to reward those who will kill communist rebels as it encourages war crimes.
“This is not the first time the President has made public statements that would encourage laws-of-war violations. He also told soldiers to shoot female rebels in their vaginas, eliciting public outcry,” Carlos Conde of the Human Rights Watch Asia Division said in a statement.