NATION | Palace: Duterte 'threat' vs rights advocates a figure of speech

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar assures human rights advocates that Presient Rodrigo Duterte's "threat" is just a figure of speech. Philstar/Jonathan Asuncion | By Kristian Javier 

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said that President Rodrigo Duterte's "threat" to kill human rights advocates is just a figure of speech and should not be taken seriously.

 

"It was just out of frustration. The president did not really mean na gagawin niya talaga yun," Andanar said in an interview with radio dzMM, adding that that is just how Duterte speaks.

 

In a speech on Monday, Duterte said he would include human rights activists when "harvest time" comes because, he said, they are contributing to the country's drug problem.

 

"Sabi ng human rights, pinapatay ko raw, sabi ko ‘sige na maghinto tayo, paramihin natin.’ Para ‘pag panahon ng harvest time mas marami na tuloy mamatay, isali ko na kayo kasi kayo ang nagpalaki eh," Duterte, who has talked about killing drug dealers and drug lords but has also denied that he condones extrajudicial killings, said.

 

Andanar said that Duterte's statement should not be taken seriously, and that the remarks were from frustration that his sentiments on the war against drugs are not understood by the public.

 

A Social Weather Stations survey in September that was released last month found that respondents rated the government's war on drugs "excellent" at a net score of +78.

 

Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., meanwhile, said in an interview on GMA News' News to Go that the president knows "that he cannot do that" and that it would be wrong to.

 

 "Wala akong narinig na sinasabi ng pangulo na ganyan," Yasay also said.

 

'No joke'

 

Sen. Leila De Lima, meanwhile, said in a statement that the president's statements should not be taken as "mere jokes."

 

"We must defend those who defend human rights in this country and oppose all initiatives and actions that would make international accountability for HR violations and abuses difficult," De Lima, former chair of the Commission on Human Rights, said.

 

She also added that, as president, Duterte's statements must be taken seriously.

 

The Palace has said in the past that although Duterte's statements hint at policy, they do not become policy unless action is taken. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella has also suggested that the media use "creative imagination" when reporting the president's statements. Andanar has said media should take a cue from Davao-based journalists to know when Duterte's words should be taken seriously.

 

Meanwhile, the Network Against Killings in the Philippines (NAKPhilippines) also expressed distress that the president "would even think of human rights activists as the enemy."

 

"His comment -- that human rights is part of the drug problem and, as such, human rights advocates should be targeted too -- can be interpreted as a declaration of an open season on human rights defenders," NAKPhilippines said.

 

They also added that due to the rate of summary and extrajudicial killings in the country, they are taking the president's perceived threat seriously.

 

"We appeal to President Duterte to revoke this statement so as not to give police officers and the death squads out there the wrong impression that, in the war on drugs, human rights are also targeted. Human rights activists are not the enemy," NAKPhilippines said.

 

They also called on "defenders of the law and security sector to observe the rule of law and uphold human rights."

 

Andanar has assured human rights groups that Duterte has many styles of speaking and that they should not take the way he expressed his frustration literally.

 

"We also have to think of the manner and the style by which the president speaks," Andanar said.