Duterte says he will humiliate US, EU, UN in rights debate

The president said he would use his experience as a trial lawyer in a debate with US, UN and EU representatives. AP/Bullit Marquez, file photo

MANILA, Philippines -- Maybe God gave you the money but we have the brains.

 

This was President Rodrigo Duterte’s message Thursday to the United States, the United Nations and the European Union as he vowed to humiliate them in a debate on human rights that he claimed would provide “entertainment” to those who will watch it.

 

Duterte said he has written letters to US President Barack Obama, US State Secretary John Kerry, the UN, and the EU inviting them to visit the Philippines to probe the killings linked to his brutal war on illegal drugs.

 

“Come here. Investigate me. But give me also the right to be heard. So I will have to ask you questions after questioning me. I’ll let them play into my hands,” Duterte said during the 42nd Philippine Business Conference and Expo in Pasay.  

 

“I’m very sure they can never be brighter than me. Believe me,” he added.

 

Duterte said he would use his experience as a trial lawyer to question critics who have been calling him out for the alleged extrajudicial killing of drug suspects.

 

“I’ve been a trial lawyer for many years. I’ll play with you in public. I’ll ask five questions that will humiliate you. I’ll ask 10 questions where you will agree with me,” the president said.

 

“Watch for it. It will be a spectacle. It will be good. It will give you entertainment,” he added, referring to the debate.

 

“They thought the Philippines is just a small nation. Maybe God gave you the money but we have the brains.”

 

Duterte has been at odds with the US, EU and UN over his intensified campaign against narcotics, which has left about 3,000 drug suspects dead.

 

He said the US, the EU and the UN had humiliated him before the international community and were trying to interfere with the Philippines’ affairs

 

Malacañang has formally invited UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard to the Philippines to look into the cases of extrajudicial killings allegedly spawned by Duterte’s war on drugs.

 

In the letter, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea asked Callamard to also probe the killing of policemen by drug suspects so she would have “an accurate perspective” of the drug menace in the Philippines.

 

It remains unclear though whether Malacañan has already sent the letters to Obama, Kerry and the EU.

 

Duterte believes his critics are trying to make a big deal out of his threats to criminals, which he said is not prohibited by law. He also dismissed as “garbage” allegations that he is involved in extrajudicial killings.

 

“Torture is very odious to me. If you want to kill that guy, fire a single shot. You make a choice: head or heart,” the president added.  

 

Earlier this month, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) noted its worries on the drastic rise in extrajudicial killings of drug suspects under the current administration and the hike in arrests and detainment in already overcrowded prisons.

 

It also noted with concern the apparent encouragement and legitimization of drug killings in the Philippines by top officials, whom the committee did not name.

   

Duterte stressed that his administration would continue the bloody war on drugs “until the last drug lord and last drug pusher is out of the street.”

 

“I will not allow my country or the next generation to be compromised,” he said.

 

“I said I’ll kill you if you do drugs in the country. I don’t give a s**t. I’ll do it. If you destroy the next generation or compromise their future, I’ll do it.