By Genalyn Kabiling
President Duterte is considering increasing the reward for the death of each communist rebel to as much as P100,000.
All the bounty hunters need to do is present the head of the dead communist insurgent to get the reward, according to the President.
“Next week, I will increase it to make it P30,000, then I’ll increase it to P100,000. Sila na magpapatayan,” Duterte said before a gathering of Filipino-Chinese business community at the Manila Hotel.
“No need to bring me the body. Bring me the head,” the commander-in-chief said, adding he would ask the military officials to verify the identity of the rebels before the bounty is given.
The President earlier offered P25,000 for every communist rebel killed by government forces in a bid to save on the government’s anti-insurgency expenses. Duterte made the offer in retaliation to communist leader Jose Maria Sison’s threat to kill one soldier a day.
Duterte said he has computed that it was cheaper to make the bounty offer than spend on the counterinsurgency operations.
“They cannot be more than 3,000,” he said about the estimated number of communist rebels. “Sa P25,000, makamura ako,” he added.
Meantime, the President said he would consult the military on whether or not the government would resume peace negotiations with the communist rebels.
Duterte admitted that he recently met with the officials from Norway who tried to “explore the possibility” of reviving the peace negotiations.
“I have to consult my military people. Why? Sila ‘yun namamatay. hindi naman ako. I will talk to the military. If you would agree, I might,” he said.
