Duterte, who was sworn in as president less than two months ago, has also hinted at imposing “martial law” if the judiciary tries to obstruct his plan to eradicate drugs from the South East Asian nation.
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But Philippine foreign secretary Perfecto Yasay played down the comments, saying the Philippines would never quit the United Nations and that the comments reflected the president’s disappointment over the criticism. “Arrest them if they surrender peacefully but if they put up a violent stunt then you just have to kill them because I do not want people in government dying needlessly for doing his work when you were then leaving behind a family and children”, he said.
While the newly elected president has himself been accused of being involved in the Philippines widespread drug trade so to have scores of officials in the army, judiciary and police in the south east Asian nation which is on the cusp of becoming a narco state.
“Look at the iconic boy that was taken out from the rubble and he was made to sit in the ambulance and we saw it”, Duterte said, referring to the photo of a 5-year-old Syrian boy, Omran Daqneesh, that has gone viral online. “You have done nothing anyway”.
U.N. Secretary General; Ban Ki-moon and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime were critical of Duterte’s “apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings, which is illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms”. Where were you here the last time?
Duterte also accused the United Nations of doing nothing for the Philippines – ignoring its poverty reduction programmes and enormous help following typhoons and other natural disasters.
The U.N. has condemned the approach.
“Allegations of drug-trafficking offenses should be judged in a court of law, not by gunmen on the streets”, stated the report.
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.
“This is all the matter of explaining, as a sovereign nation, we can not be meddled with”, he was quoted as saying by the state-run Philippine News Agency.
Duterte revealed in one of his speeches that De Lima is in cahoots with her lover-slash-driver, who serves as her “bag boy” or the one who collects drug payments from syndicates and delivers the money to De Lima.
Philippines has seen the death of a 1,000 people as a result of the government’s campaign to purge the country of drugs.
With Duterte’s threats making global headlines, Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay held a brief news conference specifically on the issue on Monday.
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“We’ve increased police visibility and patrol operations to keep criminals and lawless elements at bay and remove the fear of crime and violence in the hearts of our countrymen”, he said.
