Duterte raises bounty for Negros cops killers to P6M

MOURNING President Duterte extends his sympathies to a relative of one of four policemen slain in a July 18 ambush by communist rebels in Negros Oriental province. The President visited the lawmen’s wake at Camp. Lt. Col. Francisco C. Fernandez Jr. in Sibulan town on Saturday. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday increased to P6 million the bounty for the capture of those behind the brutal killing of four police officers in Ayungon, Negros Oriental.

“Kung sino makatiklo nyan, P6 million na ‘yan. Kung dalhin mo ang ulo sa harap ko…give to me his head,” Duterte said in a speech before newly promoted star-rank police officers in Malacañang.

Authorities arrested two suspects in the murders allegedly perpetrated by communist rebels but the President said he has yet to confirm the involvement of the arrested suspects, adding that he would conduct his “own reading.”

The four policemen were on three motorcycles when ambushed by the gunmen believed to be members of New People’s Army in Sitio Yamot, Barangay Mabato in Ayungon, Negros Oriental on July 18.

The police officers were reportedly verifying reports that NPA members were operating in the town.

READ: 4 cops dead in NPA ambush in Negros Oriental