Duterte to troops: Kill yourself rather than be captured

Updated @ 10:15 p.m., Dec. 8, 2018

DAVAO CITY — Kill yourself rather than be captured by Abu Sayyaf.

President Rodrigo Duterte gave this advice to soldiers and police officers as he ordered one more Army division sent to Jolo to fight the homegrown terror group.

“I don’t want to see the police or the soldiers captured,” the President said during ceremonies here for graduates of motorcycle riding courses for police.

He said Abu Sayyaf “will humiliate you and debase you in their camps.”

Apparently referring to terrorists’ practice of videotaping beheadings, the President said Abu Sayyaf would make soldiers “face the camera” if they were captured or tortured.

Police officers and soldiers, the President said, had been given three magazines per pistol.

If cornered by Abu Sayyaf, the President said this was what the soldier should do: Use two magazines.

“If one empties, insert the other one. If the other one is emptied, be sure to count the numbers. Be sure to leave three bullets in the magazine because if you get cornered, son of a bitch, eat your gun. Pull the trigger.”

The President said he would go to Jolo himself to accompany the additional soldiers being sent to the province in a gesture of encouragement.

“I’m going there,” he said. “When the new division arrives, I’ll be there,” the President added. /pdi