Getty Rodrigo Duterte has offered a £350 bounty for each communist rebel killed by government forces

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Rodrigo Duterte also said the communists are easier to hit than birds because they have bigger heads. His latest crass remarks, which the government issued to reporters yesterday, came after human rights groups condemned him this week for saying troops should shoot female communist guerrillas in the genitals to render them “useless”. Mr Duterte said in a speech to troops at an air base in central Cebu city, referring to New People’s Army guerrillas: “You kill an NPA today and I’ll pay you 25,000 pesos. “I was computing that if this drags on for four years, … it’ll be very expensive because it’s war. If I’ll just pay 25,000 for a life, I can save about 47 percent.”

His comments drew laughter from the crowd. There was no elaboration on how he came up with those figures and whether or how the government would pay for claimed kills. Backing up his offer, the brash-talking president encouraged state forces to go for the kill. Mr Duterte added: “If you work really hard to crawl across the forest, you’ll surely be able to shoot even just one. If you can shoot a bird above you, then how much more an NPA whose head is so big?” Once again, his remarks made the crowd laugh. However, his incendiary comments encourage government forces to commit war crimes instead of instilling a culture of accountability in accordance with international law, Human Rights Watch said.

Getty Rodrigo Duterte also said insurgents are easier to hit than birds because they have bigger heads

Carlos Conde of the US-based rights group said: “Duterte’s pronouncements normalise the idea that government security forces can do as they wish to defeat their enemies, including committing summary executions and sexual violence.” The president has controversially joked about the gang rape of a murdered Australian missionary. And he boasted about his womanising ways spurred on by Viagra. Reports suggest that about 3,800 people have been killed by police since he was elected in 2016, some were attacked by vigilantes who had permission from the police. Mr Duarte has even bragged about taking part in murder himself, alongside police, when he was mayor of Davao. The volatile president turned up the rhetoric against communist guerrillas after peace talks brokered by Norway collapsed last year when he protested against continuing rebel attacks on government forces. When a rebel leader recently warned that the guerrillas could kill one soldier a day, Mr Duterte countered by threatening to kill five rebels daily and offering to train tribesmen as militias and give them bounties to slay the insurgents.

Duterte’s Pledges of Rewards Encourage War Crimes https://t.co/N7TEYGWqUr — Human Rights Watch (@hrw) February 14, 2018