First, he came up with a narco-list of mayors and LGU officials. Then he warned them that he would go after them and kill them. After that the police came and killed one mayor inside his jail cell, and another inside his own home. His whole government goaded his tough talk and the killings.
Last week he told vice mayors who want to be mayor to save on their election campaign and just kill their mayor. Yesterday, a mayor was shot in broad daylight during a morning flag ceremony. Before the body even turns cold, he proclaims in a speech that the mayor who was shot dead was a suspected drug lord and saw it coming.
Duterte may not have fired the gun that killed Mayor Antonio Halili of Tanauan, Batangas, but he most certainly murdered him with his words.
Ordinarily, it might be true that words do not kill. But when one is the President, words become orders. This is how Duterte gives the killers their mandate to kill, and protects them from whatever semblance of the law still remains under his administration. ###