Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday that he has ordered the police to kill his son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, if he is found to be involved in the illegal drug trade.
"My order was: If there's any of my children into drugs, kill them, so the people can't say anything against me," the 72-year-old leader said in a speech during the awarding outstanding government workers and groups in Malacañang.
Duterte added that he has already told his son about his orders to the police. "My orders (are) to kill you if you are caught and I will protect the police who will kill you," Duterte told his 42-year-old son.
Paolo, the President's eldest son, has been accused as being a member of a Chinese organised crime syndicate and allegedly overseeing a drug-smuggling and drug lord protection scheme. However, he denied all the allegations that came from Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the Philippines Senate and described as 'baseless' and founded upon 'rumours'.
In 2016, a retired policeman and former criminal accused Paolo of being the mastermind behind the operation. But, the claims were never proven.
"The better. So that I can say to people: There, you keep talking. There's my son's corpse," Duterte said.
Earlier, Vice Mayor Duterte was also linked to a certain Davao Group, which had allegedly been facilitating drug smuggling at the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Duterte has repeatedly said that he would resign if any of his children would turn out to be involved in corruption or other illegal activities.
