PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s move to bring up the issue of human rights was a “personal and official insult.”
In a news conference late Tuesday night, Duterte said that he would only answer to a Filipino and not “any bullshit foreigner.”
“I said that I will not explain. It angers me when you are a foreigner and you do not know exactly what is happening in this country,” the President said during a press briefing after the Asean Summit ended.
“You don’t even investigate. You only show before the United Nations a record of how many persons died, which you claimed to be extrajudicially [killed],” he added.
Trudeau in a press briefing on Tuesday said that he raised the issue of extrajudicial killings to Duterte when he had an opportunity to talk to the Philippine leader before the Asean-Canada 40th Anniversary Commemorative Summit.
He added that Duterte was receptive of his comments.
Duterte, however, said he told Trudeau he could investigate: “I said why don’t you investigate first and find out the truth? Whatever happened, why are you not giving us in government the simple rule of the right to be heard?”
“You know, I was elected by the people of the Republic of the Philippines I only answer to the people of the Republic of the Philippines. If you’re a Filipino even if you’re just a fisherman, and you ask me, I’ll explain to you patiently.”
On Wednesday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Wednesday clarified that Duterte only nodded when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brought up human rights concerns and extrajudicial killing, and described it as “a fleeting conversation.” John Paolo Bencito
