Philippines Foreign Secretary: We’re not leaving the U.N.
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Story highlights
NEW: "We are certainly not leaving the U.N.," foreign secretary says
Philippines president fired back at UN criticism of his anti-drug tactics Sunday
International body recently condemned Duterte's deadly approach to drug problem
CNN
—
The chief diplomat of the Philippines says his country is not leaving the United Nations, a day after the country’s president threatened to pull out.
“We are certainly not leaving the U.N.,” Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said. “As I’ve said, the statement of the president is a statement expressing profound disappointment and frustration, and it is not any statement that should indicate a threat to leave the United Nations.”
President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to leave the U.N. in a speech Sunday after receiving criticism of his approach to drug crime since taking office.
The pugnacious new leader made the comments in Davao City, the southern Filipino city where he served as mayor for over two decades.
“Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations,” he said in English during the address.
“If you are that insulting, son of a bitch, we should just leave,” he said then in Tagalog, according to a translation by CNN affiliate CNN Philippines. “Take us out of your organization. You have done nothing anyway.”
He accused the U.N. of ignoring the plight of the country.
“When were you here last time? Nothing. Never. Except to criticize.”
The crackdown since Duterte took office in late June has seen over 650 police killings – deaths Duterte and his top police officer, Roland Dela Rosa, say are justified self-defense killings – alongside as many as 900 unexplained murders perpetrated by suspected vigilantes.
Duterte has also publicly accused dozens of officials and politicians of being involved in the drug trade.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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Police patrol a shanty community at night during curfew on June 8, 2016 in Manila.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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Some 1,000 people whom authorities accused of being drug users and dealers take an oath before local authorities after turning themselves in in Tanauan, the Philippines, on July 18, 2016.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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A man authorities accused of being a drug user is fingerprinted during the mass surrender of some 1,000 alleged drug users and pushers in the Philippine town of Tanauan, located about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Manila on July 18, 2016.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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A social worker gives counseling to those who have turned themselves in for drug-related crimes in the Philippines on July 18, 2016.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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A woman cradles her husband, next to a placard which reads "I'm a pusher," who was shot dead in Manila on July 23, 2016.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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A Philippine police forensic investigator displays packets of drugs and a hand gun found inside a shanty where members of a suspected drug syndicate were killed after a shootout with police on July 3, 2016.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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A suspected female member of a drug syndicate is presented by police in Manila on June 22, 2016.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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A gun, bullets, marked money and sachets of crystal meth are laid on a table after a drug raid in Manila on June 20, 2016.
Photos: Philippines drug crackdown
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Police officers stand in formation before the start of "Oplan Rody" on June 1, 2016, a law enforcement operation named after President Duterte, whose nickname is Rody.
“Allegations of drug-trafficking offenses should be judged in a court of law, not by gunmen on the streets,” a report released Thursday quotes human rights experts as saying.
“We call on the Philippines authorities to adopt with immediate effect the necessary measures to protect all persons from targeted killings and extrajudicial executions,” the new U.N. Special Rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, said in the report.
“Claims to fight illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings.”
Duterte’s undiplomatic style has landed him in hot water before. He recently insulted the US Ambassador to the Philippines, calling him a “gay son of a bitch,” and prior to taking office used similarly colorful language to complain that Pope Francis’ visit to the country had resulted in traffic jams.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
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Speaking at a business forum in Manila in December 2016, Duterte admitted killing suspected criminals during his time as mayor of Davao City.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
TED ALJIBE/Getty Images
The day after Trump won the US presidential election in November 2016, Duterte said he and Trump share some traits.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
AFP/Stringer/Getty Images
After reports emerged of a potentially blocked arms sale, Duterte told CNN Philippines in November 2016 that he would turn to Russia for weapons.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
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During a state visit to China in October 2016, Duterte announced his economic and military 'separation' from the US.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
Lam Yik Fei/Stringer/Getty Images
In October 2016 Duterte expressed growing hostility with the US president.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
After US president Barack Obama said he would raise extrajudicial killings in a meeting with Duterte, the Philippines President responded angrily on September 5, first in English then in Tagalog. As a result, Obama canceled the meeting.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
As he addressed troops at the country's Armed Forces Central Command Headquarters on August 5, Duterte recounted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to the country, saying in Tagalog that he was feuding with U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
MANMAN DEJETO/AFP/Getty Images
The Philippines president-elect effectively said he supported vigilantism against drug dealers and criminals in a nationally televised speech in June 2016.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
Foreign diplomats weighing in on Rodrigo Duterte's controversial remarks did not sit well with the then-mayor.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
Bullit Marquez/AP
Duterte apologized to the Pope after cursing him for the traffic he caused during a 2015 Papal visit to the Philippines.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
In September 2016, Duterte likened himself to the Nazi leader and announced that he wants to kill millions of drug addicts.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images
Speaking at a press conference to unveil his new cabinet on May 31 2016, Rodrigo Duterte said journalists killed on the job in the Philippines were often corrupt.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
During the third and last presidential debate, Duterte had said that he would plant a Philippine flag in disputed territories should China refuse to recognize a favorable ruling for the Philippines.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
AFP/Getty Images
Duterte made international headlines in April 2016 with his inflammatory comments on the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary that took place in Davao City.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
He also lashed out at the womens' group that filed a complaint against him before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
MANMAN DEJETO/AFP/Getty Images
At a CNN Philippines Townhall event in February 2016, Duterte, admitted that he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His marriage to Elizabeth Zimmerman was annulled due to his womanizing, but he denied this meant he objectified women.
Photos: Rodrigo Duterte has said some outrageous things.
NOEL CELIS/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Although he later denied the accusations, the former Davao City mayor admitted his links to the alleged Davao death squad in a May 2015 broadcast of his local television talk show.
Popular leader
Duterte enjoys high levels of support among Filipinos, who he says are tired of the scourge of drugs.
However, the new president’s approach to drug crime is facing scrutiny within the country, with one of Duterte’s most vocal opponents, Senator Leila de Lima, conducting an inquiry into the high numbers of drug-related deaths since he took office.
The senator has called Dela Rosa to a senate hearing on the issue.
Duterte stands by his tactics, which he says are justified in ridding the country of drugs.
“My orders are for the police to go out and hunt for criminals,” he said. ‘I tell them to arrest these criminals if they surrender peacefully, but kill them if they put up a violent struggle. I assume full responsibility for what happens.”
CNN’s Bex Wright and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report
