Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned President Barack Obama not to question him about extrajudicial killings, or “son of a bitch I will swear at you” when they meet in Laos during a regional summit.
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Speaking at a G20 meeting in China, and before traveling to Laos for a summit where he was due to hold talks with Duterte, Obama said he had asked his team to find out if “constructive, productive conversations” were possible.
“He stands with the Government and people of the Philippines”, the statement read.
“I’m going to make an assessment”.
“We recognize the significant burden that the drug trade plays not just in the Philippines but around the world, and fighting narco-trafficking is tough”.
The proclamation of a state of national emergency for the Philippines came barely three days after Duterte declared “a state of lawlessness”, which authorized the military and the police “to run the country” in the wake of the terror attack Friday night at his hometown in Davao City. “There is a crisis in this country involving drugs, extrajudicial killings and there seems to be an environment of lawless violence”, Duterte himself said on Saturday in a visit to Davao to survey the damage.
While his campaign has won popular support, the killings have alarmed rights groups and brought expressions of concern from the United States, a former colonial power and a close Philippine ally, and the United Nations.
Duterte announced the declaration last week, but signed it on Monday, shortly before leaving for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in Laos. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.
Father Ranhilio C. Aquino, the priest-dean of the San Beda Graduate School of Law, explained that if “the war on drugs is taken a sign of lawlessness”, then that “is one matter” to be considered.
“Plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets”.
Ablan said Duterte has been receiving reports on drug threats and terrorist attacks, which may have sparked the discussion between him and Panelo.
Duterte has earlier cursed the pope and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
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The government, however, has been keen to allay fears the obscure order might impinge on civil liberties. The police have been placed on maximum alert, with increased patrols and checkpoints set up at strategic areas nationwide, after the September 2 blast that killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens of others, Efe news reported.
