Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has continued his ongoing line of violent commentary this week by threatening to throw government officials he deems corrupt out of a helicopter. Reuters reports that Duterte said that he once threw a man out of a helicopter and that he wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
While addressing a group of victims of a typhoon on Tuesday, Duterte said that he once threw a Chinese man who was suspected of rape and murder out of a helicopter, according to Reuters. "If you are corrupt, I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out. I have done this before, why would I not do it again?" he asked.
Duterte backtracked on the claim in an interview with ABS-CBN news on Thursday when he was asked about the claim he made Tuesday. Duterte asked, "Helicopter to throw a person?" Then stated "And if that is true, I will not admit it." President Duterte's spokesperson, Ernesto Abella, stated that the story is an "urban legend."
As Reuters reports, Duterte recently stated that he personally killed 22 people while he was mayor of Davao City. Duterte went so far as to say he would sometimes go out riding on his motorcycle looking for people to kill.
