President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday told alleged drug lord Peter Lim to commit suicide instead of surrendering to him.

“I am warning those (drug lords) in Visayas. Peter Lim, if I were you I would commit suicide,” Duterte said during his speech in Malacanang.

“Never ever surrender to me alive,” he added.

Duterte said Lim should “tie his neck” and commit suicide.

In an ambush interview, Duterte said if Lim surrendered alive, he will jail him for 200 years.

"I will tell him to commit suicide. What I'm telling you is, do not f..k with my country or I will kill you. You will destroy my country and I will kill you," said Duterte.

"I could not be more emphatic and be clearer about. Not drugs because it is an enemy which can cause destruction of a country or will render it a failed state," he said.

The Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation operatives have been looking for Lim after the Makati City RTC Branch 65 ordered his arrest last August 14, 2018

Duterte has been pointing at the Chinese businessman as one of the country's drug lords but Lim denied it during their meeting in 2016. Ella Dionisio/DMS