Stop the police, Philippine minister says, as bounty-seekers track felons

MANILA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Philippine justice minister
on Friday urged police to abort a manhunt of dozens of
potentially dangerous convicts freed in error, fearing possible
violence after the president offered big bounties to kill or
capture them.
The release of so many criminals guilty of violent offences
under a programme to reward good behaviour has been a huge
embarrassment for President Rodrigo Duterte, a former prosecutor
who won an election by promising to stamp out crime. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra wanted police to stand
down after the midnight expiry of Duterte's deadline for inmates
to turn themselves in, as the number of those who reported to
authorities roughly matched the 1,700 serious offenders freed.
"We want to make sure that those remaining are actually
people that need to be arrested," Guevarra told news channel
ANC.
"We find it prudent to pause for a while, tally the count
and make sure those who surrendered are those on the list."
Duterte had offered a "prize" of a million pesos ($19,000)
for each of the convicted murderers, rapists and drug offenders
released in a corrections bureau blunder, and said he preferred
them caught dead rather than alive. Guevarra tried this week to intervene to ensure the public
did not take literally Duterte's expressed desire for the
fugitives to be killed.
Duterte has drawn flak for his fierce rhetoric, including
calls for the deaths of drug users or alleged criminals, which
critics say is inciting vigilantism and spurring police to kill
illegally. His office rejects that, saying his words are meant
for effect, and should be taken seriously, not literally.
Guevarra would not identify the wanted former inmates, out
of concern that people trying to capture dangerous felons could
get hurt or might target the wrong people.
More time was needed to verify those who had reported to
authorities, he said, adding that they included former criminals
who were not under suspicion but who had surrendered for fear of
being killed, or because they preferred being in prison.
"Probably they are afraid for their lives because the
president said you'd better surrender or you'll be hunted down
dead or alive," he said.
"Some may have found it difficult to adjust outside."