黑料社

President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 plan to create a death squad to go after the communist rebels is just an 鈥渋dea鈥� that may or may not come into fruition, Malaca帽ang said Thursday.

鈥淚 think the President was just bringing an idea, and if that idea becomes a reality, as Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana said, the Army will be in charge of that,鈥� Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

Panelo made the remark after Duterte drew criticisms for proposing the creation of a 鈥渄eath squad鈥� that he said will match the talent of hitmen in the New People鈥檚 Army (NPA).

搁贰础顿:听Duterte wants to create 鈥榙eath squad鈥� to counter NPA鈥檚 Sparrow Unit

Panelo also confirmed Duterte鈥檚 plan to use NPA surrenderers to identify current members of NPA鈥檚 so-called Sparrow Units.

鈥淭here is also the idea that perhaps if you organize that鈥� you need those who surrendered coming from the NPAs to join so that these people know who the members of the Sparrow Units are, so they can easily point 鈥� mas mabuti iyong kilala mo kung sino iyong miyembro, kasi mga kasamahan nila iyon eh,鈥� Panelo said.

Asked if this will endanger the lives of聽surrenderers, Panelo said聽their lives were already in danger the moment they laid down their arms and surrendered to the government.

鈥�(Ang) katotohanan niyan, nanganganib ang buhay nila noong sumurender sila. Sila ang unang ita-target noong mga Sparrow, kasi sumurender sila eh; and there is a risk of these people pointing at them, kaya sila ang unang target in fact,鈥� he said.

搁贰础顿:听Duterte death squads illegal, say critics

Duterte鈥檚 plan to create a government-sanctioned hit squad against the communist has been met with skepticism, with some calling it illegal and may cause serious violations of human rights. /kga