Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte joked with government soldiers on Friday that they would not be punished for abusing their power under military law, even if they raped women, the Guardian reports.
"If you go down, I go down. But for this martial law and the consequences of martial law and the ramifications of martial law, I and I alone would be responsible, just do your job I will take care of the rest," Duterte said according to a president's office transcript.
"I'll imprison you myself," he said, referring to any soldiers who commit violations, then he joked: "If you had raped three, I will admit it, that's on me."
Mindanao Island is under military rule as Duterte tries to filter out Islamic State-linked rebels who have claimed seige to a southern city. The Philippine president has taken a hard stance on drugs, crime and terrorism since he took office last June and often used profanity, threats and jokes to get his message across.
"My order to the troops is all people who are not authorised by government to carry arms and they resist, kill them, wipe them out," he said of the rebels.
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