Duterte has no time to meet with UN chief

MANILA, Philippines - He’s fully booked.

President Duterte has turned down the request of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Laos next week.

The reason, Manila insisted, was not because Ban had earlier issued a strong statement of concern over the spate of drug-related killings in the Philippines since Duterte assumed power. 

Duterte has also questioned what he said was the UN’s silence on mass killings in other countries, and recently issued harsh words against the UN special rapporteur for human rights, who wants to visit the Philippines.

Assistant Secretary Ma. Hellen dela Vega yesterday confirmed that the UN had requested for a meeting between Ban and Duterte. But she explained that the President’s schedule at the summit is tight and he cannot accommodate the request. 

About nine heads of state, including US President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have been scheduled so far for bilateral meetings with Duterte.

“I think the President has a very tight schedule and there are very clear priorities,” Dela Vega said.

Duterte challenges BBC journalist

Duterte remains unmoved by the growing international criticism of his bloody campaign against drugs.

Yesterday, he invoked national sovereignty in his fight to rid the country of the drug menace.

“I am the president of the Republic of the Philippines. And I must solve decisively this problem or else the 3.7 million (drug users) will compromise the next generation of Filipinos. That is the thing that worries me, not the international community. They can always talk and talk. I am invoking sovereignty. No interference. We never interfered in anybody’s business,” he said in a press conference in Davao City.

Asked by BBC journalist Mathew Sullivan if he was concerned about the clamor to address human rights violations, Duterte reiterated that there is a crisis that needs to be addressed to prevent drugs from destroying the next generation.

“No, not at all. Not a bit because there is a crisis,” he said at a briefing last night during the inauguration of the Davao International Container Port.

“I stake my life, my honor and the presidency, any time. Any time, they can impeach me. They can kill me. I am 71 years old. I have to protect the nation, with the sheer number of people (of drug users) without money,” he added.

Duterte also challenged Sullivan to work in Davao to see for himself the peace and order situation in the city.

In Manila, Duterte told Sullivan to just give him a call and he would have the journalist escorted to join anti-drug operations, to negate reports that police are violating human rights.

“If you want, if there is an operation against drugs, you bring your camera and go with them, and you will see the truth,” Duterte said.

He pointed out that in one region alone, there are 100 policemen in the drug pushers’ list with their brains shrunk by drug abuse.

The President also noted that unlike the United States, which can afford to bring drug users to rehabilitation, the Philippine government does not have enough funds to address the magnitude of the crisis, with over 600,000 drug users so far surrendering to the police.

“I said, do not f**k with me. Do not f**k with our children. We cannot afford the rehab centers of America given free. We do not even have the materials… Just don’t f**k with the next generation,” he added. 

Duterte almost lost his temper as his press briefing wound down and asked the audience to be quiet.

“At the end of the day, you listen, do not let me shout, God damn it, I will shoot all of you. At the end of the day, it will be your love for your country and it will be for the generation of Filipinos,” he said.

Anti-drug pamphlets

At least 500 pamphlets explaining the anti-drug war of the Duterte administration will be distributed to journalists covering the 49th ASEAN summit in Laos next week.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the production of the 40-page pamphlet is an effort to make the international media “understand” the war on drugs that Duterte is waging.

The pamphlet, entitled “Winning the First Phase of the Drug War,” was launched in Davao City yesterday. Abella and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar have yet to show a copy of the pamphlet to the President.  

Andanar said the pamphlet was Abella’s “baby,” following consultations with various groups and sectors. 

The pamphlet contains the following sections: Introduction, The Drug Menace, Drug-Affected Barangays, The Role of Local Government Units, Anti-Illegal Drugs Campaign of the Philippine National Police, Assessment by the PNP, and Conclusion.

According to the pamphlet, there are 42,065 drug-affected barangays in the country.

Also featured are statistics on shabu, cocaine and Ecstacy tablets seized by authorities as well as the number of extrajudicial killings and the number of policemen killed in the war on drugs.  – With Edith Regalado