Palace: UN rights chief remarks about Duterte didn’t come at an appropriate time

Malacañang on Monday said the Philippines will still welcome an investigation on the killings being linked to the government's war on drugs despite the remarks of the United Nations human rights chief against President Rodrigo Duterte last week.

Listing some of Manila's actions against UN special rapporteurs, United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein said last Friday it made "one believe that the president of the Philippines needs to submit himself to some sort of psychiatric evaluation."

Zeid and other UN rights officials have focused significant attention on Duterte's controversial war on drugs.

"Let’s just say that that kind of a comment is not conducive to having further investigations in the Philippines by any special rapporteur. But as I said, the communications are ongoing. Let’s see what happens," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference.

Roque was referring to the communication between UN Secretary General António Guterres and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano regarding the list of special rapporteurs from which the Philippines can choose the person to conduct the investigation on the alleged drug-related killings.

The Palace official, however, said the Philippines welcomes special rapporteurs provided that they are "impartial, neutral, and willing to investigate rather than those already having conclusions and wanting to justify them through one investigation."

"I am just saying that it did not come at an appropriate time," he said.

Roque earlier said that Zeid's remark was an insult to countries with democratically elected leaders while Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano described it as "uncalled for" and "tarnishes the reputation of the Office of the High Commissioner."

But when asked about Duterte's use of profanity-laced tirades against critics, including former United States president Barack Obama, Roque said UN officials should accord respect to heads of states.

"UN officials should, as a matter of course, respect sitting heads of state, because after all the UN is composed is an international organization [and] is composed of sovereign state[s]. And the sovereign states of course are represented by their respective leaders," Roque said.

"There’s a world of difference between a UN official using crude language against a sitting head of state and the President using any kind of language that he wants on a private individual. Especially in this instance, when the person using the crude language is himself without a democratic mandate," he said.

Zeid is a prince of Jordan which is under a constitutional monarchy.

Roque also said Duterte's statement last Saturday that he will feed the special rapporteurs to crocodiles was an appropriate response to Zeid’s "crude language."

"I don’t think he is in a position to do it. Come on. They are not even being allowed in to investigate. There would be no occasion to push them to the crocodiles," the Palace official said.  — RSJ, GMA News