Abella’s statement came after Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, had said that she would look into the extrajudicial killings of drug personalities in the country.
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If this is the best that the President of the Philippines can do, in marshalling government resources against a person he considers an enemy, then there is really nothing against De Lima.
Duterte won the election on a promise to wage a war on illegal drugs and other crime that would claim tens of thousands of lives.
The United Nations has expressed concern regarding Duterte’s empowerment of police to eradicate the drug problem, which Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has condemned and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime referred to as an “apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings”.
“Directives of this nature are irresponsible in the extreme and amount to incitement to violence and killing, a crime under global law”, Callamard said. “One day I will tell you that her driver himself, who was a lover, was the one collecting money for her during the campaign”, said Duterte. He said that this lady lawmaker even paid for a house for this married man – making her an adulterer.
Asked on Tuesday about the potential of the United Nations sending observers to the Philippines, Duterte said, “while I really do not know who’s going to come here for that, I am going to whack him in the head”. In the last few months, hundreds of alleged drug offenders have been killed on the streets, many by vigilante groups empowered by the government. “Do not kill if you’re not in danger of losing your life”, Duterte said as reported by Gulf News Philippines.
When he took office on June 30, Duterte also told a crowd in Manila: “If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful”.
However, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella clarified on Saturday “UN mouthpieces” had wrongly assumed that Panelo’s comments constituted an invitation to visit and investigate.
“He is just asking the public to cooperate with the campaign”.
“You don’t come here investigate the deaths of criminals and those suspected na sabi nila pinatay ng mga pulis (suspected to have been killed by the police) when after all we have also lost a sizable amount of our security forces in govt”, the president said.
Dela Rosa is due to appear before the country’s senate next week for hearings on the spate of killings.
Speaking to police officers and dignitaries, including former President Fidel Ramos and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua, Wednesday at a ceremony marking the 115th anniversary of the Police Service, Duterte called Senator Leila de Lima an “immoral woman” and alleged that she used her driver – also her lover, Duterte said – to collect drug payoffs on her behalf.
More than 850 people have been killed since 10 May when Rodrigo Duterte was elected President of the Philippines vowing to crackdown on crime.
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This is not the first time the president has criticized the UN.
