Philippine mayor offers $1,000 bounty for killing criminals after election of ‘Punisher’ as president

Tomas Osmena, the new leader of Cebu City, said that he will give officers the equivalent of $1,000 (or £730) for each wrongdoer killed “in the line of duty” and protect them from prosecution.

The reward is more than three times the basic pay for a patrol officer and has fuelled criticism by human rights groups that populist politicians will encourage a wave of extra-judicial killings by security forces.

He is the long-serving mayor of Davao where he earned the nicknames of “the Punisher” and “Duterte Harry” for his harsh law-and-order policies in a city once called the country’s “murder capital”.

Mr Osmena, the grandson of a former president who will take control of the country’s fifth largest city, has apparently drawn inspiration from the Duterte message.

He said that he will pay officers the equivalent of $1,000 for each criminal killed and $100 for each one wounded.

"If you kill a criminal in the line of duty, you'll be rewarded, no questions asked,” he told the AFP news agency. “I'm there to assist the police, not to prosecute them.

"That is my purpose: to instill fear in the criminals. If they want to commit crimes, they get into war with me. I will see to it that they will be casualties."

When asked if such rewards might encourage vigilante killings, he responded: "I'm not going to suppress vigilantes."

Mr Osmena has already given a reward this week of nearly $400 to a Cebu policeman who wounded two robbers in a shoot-out, officials said.

Mr Duterte's spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said the incoming president would not allow extra-judicial killings, though he declined to condemn the bounties.

We all complain about weak justice - So, is this the right way to go ?