Duterte: I've Thrown Criminal Out of Helicopter

'Why should I not do it again?' asks the Philippines president
By Linda Hervieux,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 28, 2016 8:03 AM CST
Duterte: I've Thrown Criminal Out of Helicopter
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he has personally killed at least three criminals.   (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

Now it's death by helicopter. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has already boasted he has killed three criminals himself, Time reports. Now the man nicknamed "Duterte Harry" is warning corrupt officials he will toss them from his helicopter—and he says he's already done it. "If you are corrupt, I will fetch you with a helicopter and I will throw you out on the way to Manila," Duterte said on Tuesday, per the Philippine Star. "I have done that before, why should I not do it again?" Duterte even furnished details about how high the pilot had to fly so "the body's splatter wouldn't cause a commotion," per the Star. Speaking in the northern town of Camarines Sur after touring areas devastated by a Christmas Day typhoon, it didn't take long for the strongman to turn the topic to one of his favorite topics, execution of drug dealers and other criminals.

Earlier this month Duterte said that as mayor of Davao he hunted down criminals on motorbike to show the police "that if I can do it, why can't you." He once threatened to kill his children if they used drugs. In his latest speech, he stressed his campaign against drugs and corruption will remain the centerpiece of his six-year term. Human rights groups have railed against Duterte's extrajudicial war that has left more than 5,000 dead since he took office in June. While some 2,000 deaths resulted from anti-drug operations, many of the executions have been carried out by hit squads and unidentified assailants, per the Guardian. (James Taylor canceled his Manila concert in protest.)

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