MANILA // Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte angrily berated more than 200 erring policemen on national television on Tuesday, saying he would send them to a distant island to fight militants dreaded for beheadings.
Mr Duterte’s expletive-filled outburst against the officers was his latest tirade against a police force he has called “rotten to the core”. He recently banned national police from carrying out his anti-drug campaign after a group of officers used the crackdown as a cover to kidnap and kill a South Korean man in an extortion scandal.
The 228 policemen from metropolitan Manila are accused of a range of administrative and criminal offenses, including extortion and illegal arrests. Some have tested positive for drug use, regional police spokeswoman inspector Kimberly Molitas said.
To punish the policemen, Mr Duterte ordered them to prepare in two weeks for a two-year deployment to Basilan Island, the birthplace of the brutal Abu Sayyaf extremist group, where he said some police stations have been blown up by the terrorists.
“If you survive, come back here,” he told the policemen, who were made to stand in the sun before him outside the Malacanang palace. “If you die there, I’ll tell the police not to spend [money] to bring you here and just bury you there.”
Mr Duterte - a longtime crime-busting city mayor and government prosecutor who ran after erring policemen and soldiers before he rose to the presidency last June - said the policemen can opt to resign but warned them about getting involved in criminal syndicates like some former police and military personnel.
“I will create a battalion just to keep track of your movements because it has been the sad experience of this country that the most vicious criminals are mostly ex-police or sometimes, ex-military men,” he told the policemen, their heads bowed, threatening them with death if they venture into crime.
“Sorry, I won’t think twice, you would really be the ones to go down in extrajudicial killings,” said Mr Duterte.
Some rogue policemen have defrauded street vendors and ordinary Filipinos, while others have killed drug dealers, seized and sold their methamphetamine, a strongly addictive stimulant locally known as shabu, then pocketed the money, Mr Duterte said.
“If you’re mad at me, wait until my presidency ends, then let’s go into a gunbattle,” said the president, who started his six-year term in June.
Duterte abruptly ended his talk to lead a Cabinet meeting, but asked the policemen to wait for him under the sun.
More than 7,000 suspected drug dealers and addicts had been killed in Duterte’s anti-drug crackdown before he prohibited the 170,000-strong police force from serving as the main enforcer of the campaign last week amid the scandal over the South Korean businessman’s murder.
Troops will be tapped to temporarily replace the policemen, Duterte said, prompting human rights groups to express alarm due to what they say is the military’s equally notorious image.
* Associated Press
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Federer's 19 grand slam titles
Australian Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Marat Safin; 2006 bt Marcos Baghdatis; 2007 bt Fernando Gonzalez; 2010 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Rafael Nadal
French Open (1 title) - 2009 bt Robin Soderling
Wimbledon (8 titles) - 2003 bt Mark Philippoussis; 2004 bt Andy Roddick; 2005 bt Andy Roddick; 2006 bt Rafael Nadal; 2007 bt Rafael Nadal; 2009 bt Andy Roddick; 2012 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Marin Cilic
US Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Lleyton Hewitt; 2005 bt Andre Agassi; 2006 bt Andy Roddick; 2007 bt Novak Djokovic; 2008 bt Andy Murray
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
