People spreading "fake news" about coronavirus in the Philippines have been given a chilling warning - there are "body bags" waiting for you.
The ominious threat was made by a Senator days after the country's notorious president Rodrigo Duterte said those who break Covid-19 quarantine rules will be "shot".
Senator Bong Go sparked outrage when he made the remark following TV reports that hospitals had run out of body bags.
He told journalists he had body bags for “drug addicts or peddlers of fake news”.
The remark by the Senator - who is a close ally of the president - has sparked widespread condemnation.
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Mung Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns, called on the government to stop making death threats.
The regime has already come under fire for its deadly war on drugs, which has seen thousands of people killed.
Mung said: "This dangerous rhetoric must stop now.
“Such dangerous language is never acceptable. Coming so soon after President Duterte’s alarming ‘shoot to kill’ order, this is a clear pattern of incitement that is consistent with the government’s general hostility towards human rights.
“The Senator’s comment also creates a chilling effect on journalists and whistle-blowers who seek to expose gaps and problems in the government’s COVID-19 response.
"Instead of issuing threats, the Philippine government should put all people’s rights to health and life at the centre of its plans and actions.”
Reports in the Philippines claim the government has instructed hospitals not to report coronavirus deaths.
On April 1 President Rodrigo Duterte said in a televised address that he has ordered police and military officers to shoot “dead” people who protest or question government measures.
