Advertisement
Casino kidnappers in the Philippines will be caught ‘dead or alive’, Duterte warns as Chinese flock to gambling boom
- President says foreign bandits holding indebted overseas gamblers for ransom will be arrested and killed
- ‘You can commit your crimes, but if I catch up with you, it is dead or alive. Preferably dead,’ controversial leader says
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has told an audience at the launch of a Hong Kong-backed property firm that foreigners preying on indebted gamblers in his country would be caught “dead or alive”.
Advertisement
Crimes involving Chinese nationals and syndicates have surged under Duterte’s administration.
“There are foreigners who come here to play their trade, lending money, and if the debtor cannot pay, they kidnap and sometimes they ask for a ransom,” he said. “And even with the delivery of the money ... they just go ahead and kill the victim.
“We’re good friends with everybody, but I will not hesitate even to tell your ambassador that I killed your idiot citizen because he was f****** in my country ... To me, you are just another carcass.”
The president was speaking at a launch event for the Golden Topper Group, a property financing company set up by a Hong Kong mining firm. The audience included chairman Lam Kiu San, whose name appeared in the Panama Papers, a collection of documents leaked in 2015 that detail the financial information of more than 200,000 offshore entities.
Advertisement
Advertisement