Duterte threatens to have PHL leave 'inutile' United Nations

President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to "separate from the United Nations" amid continuing criticism from rights experts over the rising death toll attributed to his administration's campaign against drugs.

Duterte made the pronouncement early Sunday morning following a statement from UN special rapporteurs Agnes Callamard and Dainius Puras calling on the Philippine government to stop the extrajudicial killings of persons linked to illegal drugs.

"Maybe we'll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. Eh kung ganiyan kayo kabastos eh p-- ina, umalis na kami diyan sa inyo," he said.

"When were you here the last time? Never. Except to criticize... When have you done a good deed to my country? We are contributing money."

Duterte also raised the possibility of forming another international organization along with China and African and Middle Eastern countries.

When asked to clarify if he is serious about his statement about the Philippines leaving the UN, he said he would do so if the UN returned the Philippines' contributions to the organization.

"The joke is on you. You have to refund me with so many contributions we have made all these years," he added.

"Isauli ninyo yung mga contributions, we would go out. We contribute a certain amount for the maintenance of UN, right? You return the money to us and we will go out. With that amount I can build so many rehab centers."

When asked whether his statements would have repercussions, Duterte answered: "I don't give a shit to them, they are the one interfering."

"Ang bastos hindi ako. They should suffer the repercussions," he continued, saying the UN rapporteurs broke protocol criticizing his administration.

'Inutile' organization

Callamard, who is from France, is the special rapporteur on extrajudicial and summary executions. Puras, of Lithuania, is the special rapporteur on the right to health.

Hundreds of drug suspects have been killed over the past few months, with deaths attributed to Duterte's intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

But Duterte hit out at the alarm over the killings.

"You only know how to count correctly when you are counting the carcass of these dead criminals," said Duterte, adding that critics don't consider the people that have been killed by drug addicts in the past.

"I'd like to talk to that alleged expert of the UN," he added. "Let them talk to me, and let him face me with hard facts. Not newspaper clippings."

Duterte also described the UN as an "inutile" organization that couldn't even keep peace among its members.

"When was the United Nations ever united?" he said, adding that the UN couldn't control powers such as the United States and Russia from going to war.

He also scored UN peacekeeping efforts for supposedly worsening the situation in war zones.

"The problem with this UN is, they send UN troops to protect the population, so the war goes out of control," he said. --JST, GMA News