Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said the Philippines is not withdrawing its membership from the United Nations even as President Duterte made a threat Sunday criticizing irresponsible statements of UN rapporteurs on summary killings of drug suspects.
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Manila: The number of drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took power in May and began his anti-narcotics war has doubled to about 1,800, police said on Monday.
But national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa defended police, saying they had shot dead 712 drugs dealers after coming under fire since July 1 – the day after Mr Duterte took office.
The U.N.’s special rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard had pointed out that by giving security to the police and vigilantes who carried out killings, Philippines was violating global law.
Making no mention of the mentioning the worldwide body’s poverty reduction programs and natural disaster relief efforts following typhoons that hit the archipelago nation, Duterte said the president said the UN had done nothing for the Philippines.
At a press conference on Monday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Junior reiterated the Philippines’ commitment to the United Nations and pleaded for sympathy.
He said his country was committed to the organisation despite its “frustrations”, Xinhua news agency reported.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, however, remains unfazed by the growing criticism and repeatedly says that the fight against drugs will be relentless and will be sustained.
Duterte also belittled United Nations work in the Philippines – raising questions, for example, about the performance of the world body’s agency that fights hunger.
Duterte is set to become the Philippines’ next president after Monday’s election. “If they make a request they already concluded arbitrarily that we violated the human rights of people. We will not leave the UN”, Yasay said.
This comes after Duterte on Sunday, August 21, threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations, as he launched another profanity-laced tirade against the organization for criticizing his bloody war on drugs.
Duterte’s refusal to walk back incendiary statements has left the job of damage control nearly entirely up to subordinates.
Tough talking Duterte, a rank outsider who was elected to lead his country on a stringent anti-drug and anti-crime ticket, has presided over a purge of drug dealers and and others involved in the country’s drug trade.
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The number of suspected drug traffickers killed in his seven-week-old war on drugs had previously been put at about 900 by Philippine officials. “It was a matter of record, it was a statement”, said Abella during a press conference in Malacañang Palace.
