"When ‘shoot-to-kill’ meets ‘order-is-order’, they need not talk nor think. All hell breaks loose." Senator Panfilo Lacson tweeted this Saturday, March 13, in the wake of President Duterte's order to "kill" and "finish off" communist rebels and the admission of military and security officials that they are following the Chief Executive's directive.

The chairman of the Senate defense and national security committee issued the cryptic statement after he appealed to authorities to clarify Duterte's order to "kill" suspected rebels and ignore human rights.

"It's incumbent upon the middle-level officers, or even the high ranking offcers na i-clarify nilang mabuti kung anong ibig sabihin ng order (to really clarify what the order really meant," Lacson, who was a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, said in an interview with CNN Philippines Froday, March 12.

"Because 'pag sinabing 'kill, kill, kill', hindi ibig sabihin non, yong talagang harabas na, kanya-kanya na, parang bahala na si Batman. There are still laws that govern 'yong pagpatay ng tao (Because if someone said 'kill, kill, kill, that doesn't mean that you will go all out, do it on your own, that you will just do whatever. There are still laws that govern the killing of people," he said.

He reiterated: "The only justification under the law is self-defense." During their plenary session last March 9, Lacson was still giving Duterte the benefit of the doubt.

"It's not really what he meant. As per our experience, we would hear the President clarifying himself, but after the damage has already been done," he said.

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, however, already confirmed that Duterte indeed issued a "shoot-to-kill" order against members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New Peoples' Army (CPP-NPA).

"Talagang (It really should be) shoot on-site. Iyon talagang ang magandang order ng Pangulo (That's a really good order from the President)," Esperon said in supporting Duterte's directive.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that they are heeding the "shoot-to-kill" order "in a way", against rebels who refuse to surrender to the government.

Last March 7, two days after Duterte bared his order to soldiers and policement, nine members of groups being linked to communist rebel were killed in a separate search operations in Southern Luzon. Authorities insisted that the individuals were armed and fought it out with them.