President Rodrigo Duterte and United States President Barack Obama are bound to meet at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos next week.
This early, many are speculating on how the conversation would go especially if Obama brings up the subject of human rights in relation to the surge in the killing of alleged drug dealers in Duterte’s war against drugs.
Mr. Duterte is known to lash out at those who dare criticize his crackdown on the drug menace. The critics raise alarm over the fact that nearly 2,000 individuals have been killed by the police or by other groups since the time the former mayor of Davao City was elected president.
Not even the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, was able to escape Duterte’s stinging words. The President said, responding to Ban’s statement on the alarming killings, that the UN was a hypocrite and was useless in stopping the war in long-suffering nations. More recently, he threatened to quit the UN after similar observations from the UN special rapporteur on summary execution.
Senator Leila de Lima is heading the investigation into the killings—all while fighting off accusations that she had close links to the drug syndicate operating from the New Bilibid Prison.
On social media, Duterte’s supporters fiercely defend the war on drugs by saying those who question its implementation prefer the status quo.
It appears the Palace has anticipated Obama would bring up the issue as Duterte warned “they must understand the problem first before talking about human rights.”
“[Obama can bring up] any topic at all. I am ready to talk to him,” he added.
We do not doubt the President has his arguments ready and that his conviction that he is doing the right thing the right way is unwavering, notwithstanding the opinion of others.
Whether or not he would listen to advice that he should adhere to the rule of law in fighting drugs is something Mr. Duterte can decide in the next few months.
For his meeting with Obama, however, he must ensure he keeps his composure and not resort to uttering foolish things that only serve to undermine his credibility.
Obama may or may not raise human rights during their meeting at the sidelines, and that talk may or may not last long enough to cover issues substantively. Either way, Mr. Duterte, as he gets to know his fellow heads of state, should be circumspect with his words. How he sounds would be nearly as important as what he says.