UN chief a fool, says Duterte

MANILA, Philippines - Reminding President Duterte of human rights has earned another tag for United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon from the Philippine leader – tarantado (fool).

After insisting yesterday that he had never intended to insult US President Barack Obama, Duterte took aim at Ban, whom he called tarantado for reportedly daring to lecture him on human rights.

Duterte revealed his latest tirade before an audience of some 500 Filipinos at the Shangri-La Jakarta Grand Ballroom yesterday.

He resented the UN chief’s joining other personalities in denouncing violations of human rights in the conduct of his administration’s war on drugs.

“Pati ito si Ban Ki-moon, nakihalo. He also gave his statement before, several weeks ago, about the human rights violation. Sabi ko, isa ka pang tarantado (I said, you’re one more fool),” Duterte said before members of the Filipino community.

He declared he does not care about world opinion as long as he is helping Filipinos fight the scourge of illegal drugs.

“I will continue the campaign against the criminals. I do not have any pity for them,” he added.

“I don’t give a sh*t. I am the president of the Philippines, not the republic of the international community.”

Duterte was elected to office in a landslide this year after pledging to kill 100,000 people in an unprecedented war on crime. But his brutal crackdown has sparked a wave of international condemnation.

The Philippine leader has become famous for his profane outbursts, and has rained expletives at Pope Francis and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg.

In the same forum, Duterte denied insulting Obama. He claimed his remarks were not directed at Obama but at the US State Department, which has raised concerns over potential human rights violations in Duterte’s anti-crime campaign, which has left over 2,400 dead in just over two months.

“I got really angry about these threats over this human rights issue. This is the fault of the crazy people in the State Department,” he said. Duterte said he had clarified his comments to Obama when they met in Laos at the ASEAN summit.