Yasay called a briefing to clarify the statement made by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday that the Philippines will “separate” from the United Nations after the body criticized his war on illicit drugs.
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“We certainly are not leaving the UN”, Yasay told a news conference at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“If you are that insulting, son of a bitch, we should just leave”, he said then in Tagalog, according to a translation by CNN affiliate CNN Philippines.
Rodrigo Duterte answers questions from journalists during a press conference on May 10, 2016 in Davao City, Philippines. Police were also investigating 1,067 drug-related killings outside normal police work, Mr Dela Rosa said.
Speaking on Sunday, he suggested he might invite China and African countries to join The Philippines in forming a new worldwide body separate from the UN.
“It is highly irresponsible on their part to exclusively rely on such allegations based on information from unnamed sources without proper substantiation”, he said of the United Nations.
“Claims to fight illicit drug trade do not absolve the Government from its worldwide legal obligations and do not shield State actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings”, Callamard added.
Abella also said the Philippines is not negating any support and aid that the United Nations had provided for the country when President Duterte said the United Nations had done nothing for the Philippines. He said that he would tackle the corruption too, which is endemic in the Philippines.
Among those invited by her panel are Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald M.de la Rosa, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Isidro Lapeña, National Bureau of Investigation Director Dante Gierran, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno, and Commission on Human Rights Chairman Chito Gascon.
What followed her arrest-her detention without bail for nearly four year-was denounced by the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights as a violation of Mrs. Arroyo’s rights and worldwide law.
Judging by the gruesome specter of bodies with gunshot wounds in cities across the country, Rodrigo Duterte, the newly elected president of the Philippines, didn’t appear to have minced his words when he authorized – and even appealed to – the police and anyone with a penchant for killing to take on drug lords, drug addicts and unsafe criminals.
He accused the United Nations of ignoring the plight of the country.
The foreign affairs chief said the United Nations rapporteurs are welcome to investigate the alleged extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the country, however, Yasay said “what’s the use when they have given conclusions that are unverified”. “Is that stupid body complaining about the stench there of death”.
“Why are you Americans killing the black people there, shooting them down when they are already on the ground?” he asked.
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“I don’t think the Constitution has ever contemplated such abuse of power on such scale, as it assumes every President to conduct himself in a manner befitting the office he holds”, said De Lima.
