If he had his way, President Duterte intends to catch drug traffickers and hang them in a dark place.
The President said he would not waste bullets on drug offenders, saying such ammunition is vital for fighting other enemies of the state.
"Kasi kung ako lang, kung mahuli kita, dalhin na kita doon sa Bonifacio o sa madilim na lugar diyan. I will hang you,” Duterte said in his public address aired on state television Monday night.
"I will not waste a bullet. Mahal ang bala ng M16 ngayon. Kailangan ko pa sa giyera in fighting the komunista (M16 bullets are now expensive. I need them in the war against the communists)," he added.
The President issued the latest threat after expressing dismay with the illegal drug trade, even inside the prison system. Duterte, who has launched a controversial war on illegal drugs, admitted watching a movie about drug trafficking on Netflix, and urged the public to try catching the film.
"What is really appalling? I cannot seem to fathom, hindi ko maabot ang rason, why the drug syndicates of almost all over the world are run by people who are in prison kagaya ng America, ganoon rin, the mafia," he said.
"Itong dito sa Pilipinas, ‘yung galing dito. They do not really bother about… because in the end, they can buy their freedom and go out," he added.
The President, in his recent first-ever address to the United Nations General Assembly, defended his anti-drug campaign from criticisms from human rights advocates. He said some interest groups have weaponized human rights to discredit his government.
Duterte said the country would continue to protect the human rights of its people, especially from the scourge of illegal drugs, criminality, and terrorism. He said he was open to “constructive engagement” with the United Nations but only if there is “objectivity, noninterference, non-selectivity, and genuine dialogue.”
Based on state records, the government’s war on drugs has left more than 5,000 suspects dead since it began in 2016. Many rights advocates here and abroad have expressed concern over the alleged extrajudicial killings and other abuses in Duterte's anti-drug campaign.
In his State of the Nation Address last July, the President asked Congress to pass a bill imposing death penalty by lethal injection for drug-related crimes. Duterte said capital punishment will help deter illegal drug trade, noting that operations by drug syndicates are being "played inside the national penitentiaries.”