Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte late Monday threatened to jail people who refuse to be vaccinated for COVID-19.
Mr. Duterte didn’t say how that would work, but he’s known for skirting the letter of the law in his vicious crackdown on drug trafficking.
“If you don’t want to be vaccinated, I will have you arrested,” the president said in a translated version of his television address reported in The Philippine Star. “I will have you injected on your butt.”
Mr. Duterte also said people who don’t want the shots should leave the country.
“Go to India if you want or somewhere, to America. But for as long as you are here and you are a human being, and can carry the virus, get vaccinated,” he said.
“Choose: Get vaccinated, or I will have you jailed. I am telling you, police detention cells are not clean,” he said. “Every filth is there. You will stay there.”
The Star reported that Mr. Duterte issued arrest orders related to COVID-19 against quarantine violators and people without face masks.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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