Rody invites UN, EU to probe Philippine killings

Probers challenged to debate on rights

MANILA, Philippines - Come on over, let’s have a debate.

President Duterte yesterday continued his word war with international bodies as he challenged the United Nations and the European Union to come to the Philippines for a debate on human rights and extrajudicial killings.

“I’m inviting the United Nations (secretary-general) Ban Ki…what’s the name of that devil again? Ban Ki-moon, Ban Ki-sun. I am inviting the EU. Send the best player of your town. Even the rapporteurs, come to the Philippines,” the President said yesterday during the inauguration of a power plant in Misamis Oriental.

“I’ll write them a letter to invite them for an investigation but in keeping with the time-honored principle of the right to be heard, after they ask me questions, I’ll ask them one by one,” he added.  

Duterte said he asked Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to draft the letter of invitation to the UN and the EU.

Duterte also said he would ask the UN special rapporteur the name of his supposed first victim, the reason for the killing, time of execution and how it was done.

“(It will be an) open forum. You can use the Senate, Folk

Arts Theater, everybody will be invited,” the Chief Executive said.

“Manood kayo. Tingnan niyo kung paano ko lampasuhin iyang mga yawang ’yan (You watch. See how I demolish these devils),” the President said.

Duterte maintained security forces were not behind the torture and extralegal killings of drug personalities.

“I asked the police to go after them and if they present a violent resistance, kill them. With those words, many were killed but they were the ones who fought,” Duterte said.

“With regard to those who were killed with their hands tied, those were the handiwork of co-conspirators in the drug trade,” the President added, noting that he had urged drug personalities to report their companions to authorities.

Duterte also lambasted the US and Europe anew for lecturing about human rights despite their past atrocities.

The President slammed US President Barack Obama for his supposed failure to stop the killing of African-Americans. He also chided the US for using weapons of mass destruction as an excuse to invade Iraq.

Duterte criticized European nations for allegedly oppressing Arabs and Muslims, calling the Middle East “a destroyed part of the planet.”

He also assailed the EU for “pretending to be imbued with humanity” while closing its doors to migrants.

“Now, the EU is issuing warnings on killing criminals. I told them ‘f**k you.’ Why are you threatening me?” Duterte said.

“Even the rapporteur of the (UN), why are you complaining so much about me threatening the criminals of the drug syndicates if you consider the fact that we have now three million and 700,000 drug addicts?” he added.

Duterte said the issue of extrajudicial killings had been used by his political rivals to discredit him. The President maintained he did not have links to the so-called Davao death squad, the vigilante group accused of executing several criminals while he was mayor of Davao City.

Other foreign critics can come too  

Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar also said foreign critics of the administration could come to the Philippines and observe whatever was being done in the campaign against illegal drugs.

“Oo. Kaya naman. Kung sinong mga kritiko, ‘di lumabas tayo kahit saan…sasamahan ko kahit sino. New York Times, New Yorker, sino pa…lalo na ’yung foreign media (Yes, we can. Whoever are those critics, we can go anywhere… I will accompany whoever they are. New York Times, New Yorker, who else…especially the foreign media),” Andanar said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

He said he was previously a police beat reporter who would know the peaceful and the troubled places in Metro Manila.

Andanar added he asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to accompany all foreign media representatives who contacted his office and expose them to places where the illegal drug trade was reportedly rampant.

Foreign engagement

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also cited the need to explain to the international community the drug situation in the Philippines and the measures being undertaken by the government to address the problem.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose said it was important to engage with and present to the international community, including the UN and the EU, the Philippine narrative.

He added Duterte won in the last elections by promising to end criminality in the country.

“It should also be emphasized that we don’t condone these so-called extrajudicial killings and that President Duterte is having them investigated,” Jose said.

“That should be a continuing process, our embassies should explain to their host governments and explain what really is happening here,” he said.

In the campaign against illegal drugs, Jose stressed that the government was strictly adhering to the established human rights principles and the rule of law.

The UN and the EU have raised concerns over Duterte’s brutal war on illegal drugs, which has so far claimed the lives of over 3,000 suspected drug offenders.

The UN has criticized the President for his supposed lack of understanding of human rights institutions and principles, while the European Parliament asked Duterte to investigate and to put an end to the “current wave of extrajudicial executions and killings.”

Duterte, who once threatened to pull the Philippines out of the UN but later on dismissed his statement as a joke, said he would not obey “unreasonable mandates.”

On Wednesday, the EU refused to comment on Duterte’s recent statement ridiculing the regional bloc. The EU and the Philippines enjoy good relations but the EU said it would continue to discuss this issue of extrajudicial killings and human rights among many others in the bilateral contacts with the authorities.

For the period from July 1 to Sept. 17, the PNP reported conducting a total of 18,382 operations where 1,138 were killed after allegedly putting up a fight.

The PNP also reported the arrest of 17,319 people and the surrender of 714,217.

Last week, Duterte asked for another six months to get rid of the drug menace, saying he was not aware of the gravity of the illegal drug problem until people surrendered and after intelligence reports were submitted to him.

The reports contained names of politicians, policemen, judges and other individuals allegedly involved in the illicit drug trade in the country.

At the Senate, there is an ongoing inquiry into extrajudicial killings while the House of Representatives is investigating the reported drug trade and other irregularities inside the New Bilibid Prison while Sen. Leila de Lima was justice secretary.

De Lima initiated the hearings on extrajudicial killings at the Senate. – With Giovanni Nilles, Pia Lee-Brago