Updated @ 10:58 p.m., April 1, 2020
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday night warned leftist groups and violators of the “enhanced community quarantine” in Luzon not to “challenge” the government during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, saying that he would not hesitate to have them shot.
“Don’t do anything foolish and go on a riot because I will order you detained and I will let you go after this COVID-19,” Duterte, speaking partly in Filipino, said in a taped speech.
“Don’t test the Filipino. Do not try to test it. You know, we are ready for you. Violence or shooting or killing, I will not hesitate to order my soldiers to shoot you. I will not hesitate to order the police to arrest and detain you,” he added.
And if they would create trouble and put uniformed personnel in danger, the President said he would give the police the right to “shoot them dead.”
“My order to the police and the military, as well as the barangay officials, is that, when you create a disorder and there would be an occasion that you fight back and their [the authorities’] lives are put in danger, shoot them dead.”
Duterte issued the warning after 20 protesters demanding food and other assistance were arrested in Quezon City for staging a rally without a permit amid the month-long Luzon lockdown.
According to reports, around 100 people from the urban poor community in Barangay Pag-asa flocked to one side of Edsa on Wednesday morning.
A police dispersal of the protest resulted in the arrest of 14 men and six women.
After the protest, the urban poor group Kadamay, which has members in the community, said that the arrest of the residents showed a gross lack of social services and compassion to those greatly affected by the lockdown.
Duterte placed the entire Luzon under a month-long lockdown on March 16, forcing about half of the country’s population to observe home quarantine. His directive came just two days after a botched attempt to restrict the movement of people living and working in Metro Manila.
/ac /atm