PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte threatened on Sunday to pull out of the United Nations, as he launched another profanity-laced tirade against the organization for criticizing his bloody war on crime.
More than 1,500 people have been killed since Duterte took office and immediately began his law-and-order crackdown, according to police statistics, triggering fierce criticism from the UN and rights groups.
Duterte, a lawyer famous for an acid tongue who has repeatedly told the UN not to interfere, on Sunday stepped up his rhetoric.
“Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you,” Duterte said in a press conference in his home city of Davao that started about 1:00 a.m.
Duterte said he would pull out of the UN only if it returned all of the country’s contributions to the organization since it joined in 1945, but said he might even look at setting up a rival international organization.
“I would invite everybody. I would invite maybe China, the African [nations],” he said.
The UN’s special rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, last week said Duterte’s promise of immunity and bounties to security forces who killed drug suspects violated international law.
Duterte on Sunday challenged Callamard to speak to him directly in Davao.
“You seem to be characterized as UN expert. Fine! I am just a simple trial lawyer, so why don’t you come here and let’s talk about what you are talking about?” he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June also strongly criticized Duterte, who during the election campaign promised to kill 100,000 people and dump so many bodies in Manila Bay that the fish would grow fat from feeding on them.
“I unequivocally condemn his apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings, which is illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms,” Ban said.
Duterte frequently peppers his public comments with swear words—he has also called Pope Francis and the US ambassador to Manila sons of whores—and days after his election win used typical language to criticize the UN.
“Fuck you, UN, you can’t even solve the Middle East carnage… couldn’t even lift a finger in Africa,” he said then.
Last month Duterte said he may not ratify the Philippines’ commitments to a historic UN climate change pact agreed by his predecessor last year.
On Sunday morning Duterte said the UN had done nothing for the Philippines—ignoring its poverty reduction programs and enormous help following typhoons and other natural disasters—as he continued to curse it.
“I don’t give a shit to them. They are the ones interfering,” he said.
On the day he was sworn into office, Duterte called for people in slums to kill neighbors whom they believed were drug addicts, repeating a campaign line.
His aides have since said such comments are merely hyperbole and not meant to be taken literally.
However, nearly 900 people have been murdered by unknown people during Duterte’s time in power, with police killing another 665 alleged drug suspects, according to the national police chief.
The killings represent a massive increase on crime deaths before Duterte took office.
Duterte has repeatedly insisted police have only killed in self defense, while maintaining the other deaths are due to drug syndicates killing each other.
Duterte said that he will only allow the withdrawal if the UN will return all the contributions of the Philippines from the start that the country joined the organization.
He said that he can build several rehabilitation centers for drug dependents out of the money that the Philippines have been contributing to the United Nations.
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar could not say if the President was serious about his threat to leave the UN.
“I will have to ask the President about it. I understand the Presidente said this last night in his press conference in Panacan. Tomorrow [Monday], there will be a Cabinet meeting, I will ask the President,” said Andanar.