Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has described European lawmakers as “crazies” in a salty-tongued rebuttal to criticism of his deadly drug war, while vowing again that all traffickers will be killed.
Duterte fired his broadside in a late-night speech on Sunday in Myanmar after the European Parliament issued a resolution last week condemning “the high number of extrajudicial killings” in his drug war.
“I don’t get these crazies. Why are you trying to impose on us? Why don’t you mind your own business/” said Duterte, who frequently uses swear words and other abusive language against his critics.
“Why do you have to fuck with us, God damn it,” he added.
Duterte, who took office in the middle of last year, has overseen a ruthless campaign ostensibly to eradicate illegal drugs that he says are threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco-state.
Police have reported killing more than 2,500 people, while rights groups say there have been more than 5,000 other deaths linked to the drug war.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said that Duterte might be overseeing crimes against humanity, with police allegedly running anonymous death squads.
Duterte has insisted he has not asked his security forces to break the law, although on other occasions he has called for millions of drug addicts to be killed and vowed to pardon police officers found guilty of murder.
At the speech to a gathering of the Filipino community in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, Duterte said that many more people would be killed in his drugs crackdown.
“More people will die. I said I will not stop. I will continue until the last drug lord in the Philippines is killed and the pushers [are] out of the streets,” he said.
Reacting to criticism that the operation targeted the poor, Duterte said he must “destroy” small-time street peddlers as well as the big-time drug lords.
In its resolution, European lawmakers also called for the UN Human Rights Council to launch a probe into Duterte’s drug war, and expressed “deep alarm” at Duterte’s plans to bring back the death penalty.
Duterte insisted foreign critics did not understand the Philippines.
To illustrate his theory on the clash of cultures, Duterte referred to a recent Time magazine cover article on gender and sexuality, and compared it with what he insisted was blanket Filipino opposition to same-sex marriage.
“That’s their culture. It does not apply to us. We are Catholics and there is the civil code which says that you can only marry a woman for me [and] for a woman to marry a man,” he said. “You stay where God assigned you. Do not mix us all up.”
In related news, Philippine House of Representatives Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a staunch ally of Duterte, yesterday said he was studying whether there was cause to impeach Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo for her criticism of Duterte’s drug war.
Duterte himself is facing an impeachment motion, with Philippine Representative Gary Alejano accusing Duterte of offenses ranging from conflict of interest and assets concealment to drugs-related extrajudicial killings and operating a “death squad” during the 22 years he was Davao City mayor.
Alvarez said in a radio interview he was weighing the possibility of filing an impeachment case against Robredo for “betrayal of public trust.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS