Photo: AP

Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte encouraged the practice of vigilante justice on Saturday, even promising to reward citizens who kill suspected drug dealers, CBS News reports.

“Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun — you have my support,” said Duterte in a televised address. “If he fights and fights to the death, you can kill him. You can shoot him and I’ll give you a medal.”

Last month, Duterte was elected to the Southeast Asian nation’s highest office on a bloody platform promising to end crime within six months by murdering all drug dealers. From The Guardian:

That vow resonated among crime-weary Filipinos, though police officials considered it campaign rhetoric that was impossible to accomplish.

Human rights watchdogs have expressed alarm his anti-crime drive might lead to widespread rights violations.

Duterte has been suspected of playing a role in many killings of suspected criminals by motorcycle-riding assassins dubbed the “Davao death squads”. Human rights watchdogs say he has not been criminally charged because nobody has dared to testify against him in court.

On Saturday, Duterte joked that he would pay bounties of five million pesos (about $107,000) for drug lords brought in dead and “only 4.999 million” for those brought in alive, but the president-elect assured viewers he was not kidding when he threatened to kill all drug addicts.

“If you’re still into drugs, I will kill you, don’t take this as a joke,” said Duterte. “I’m not trying to make you laugh, son of a bitch, I will really kill you.”