UN rebukes Duterte for threats

The United Nations human rights office on Tuesday condemned attacks and threats made against its investigators by President Rodrigo Duterte.

"Last week Mr. Duterte threatened to slap [UN special rapporteur Agnes] Callamard if she investigates him for alleged extrajudicial killings," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.

"He made the same threat against her in June after she criticized his 'war on drugs' campaign which has left thousands dead," he added, referring to remarks made after her visit in May in an unofficial capacity to attend an academic conference.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing arguments in a petition to declare Duterte's deadly war on drugs, denounced by rights groups across the world, as unconstitutional.

More than 3,900 Filipinos have been killed in what the police called self-defense after armed drugs suspects resisted arrest in the 16 month-long campaign. Critics say executions are taking place with zero accountability, allegations the police reject.

Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, is an independent expert reporting to the UN Human Rights Council. Her planned visit to the Philippines last December was called off because she refused to accept Duterte's conditions.

Recently she has also been subjected to a "tirade of online abuse, including physical threats, during what appears to be a prolonged and well-orchestrated trolling operation across the internet and on social media," Colville said.

"We condemn this treatment of Ms. Callamard and the disrespect it shows to the Human Rights Council that appointed her in the strongest terms," he added.

Duterte: 'Harapin niya ako'

Duterte had a familiar response to Colville's statement.

"Sabihin mo sa kanya, harapin niya ako dito, p— ina talaga hiritan. Binabastos niya tayo. There is a report of the United Nations, of which the Human Rights Commission is a part as well as the World Health Organization. Saan mo ako ilagay doon?" he said at a media interview at the 65th general assembly of the League of Cities of the Philippines on Tuesday.

"You are fighting with each other then you come to me to put me to task to answer for what? If you cannot agree with your neighbor... why are you—why are you pissing me off? Kaya ko sila binabastos," Duterte said.

"Biro mo, nag-aaway sila, magpo-produce pang doctor dito na itim, magsasabi pa ng g—, 'Ah, that is all right.' Tapos ‘yung World Report—World Health Organization—and you can have a copy, I’ll give you, it’s not mine. Ikaw, ganunin ko. Maligayahan ka kung ganunin ka?" he added.

The doctor Duterte was referring to is Columbia University professor Carl Hart, whose research on methamphetamines was cited by Callamard and who gave a talk at the University of the Philippines in May. 

Duterte also claimed that the UN's "International Narcotics Control Board Precursors and Chemicals Frequently Used in the Illicit Manufacture of Narcotic Drugs and Tropic Substances 2014" report contradicts Callamard's sentiments. — Reuters/with a report by Trisha Macas/BM, GMA News