Duterte: Jordan giving 2 attack helicopters

President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday Jordan will give two Cobra attack helicopters to the Philippines even after he lambasted a member of the Middle Eastern nation's royal family who urged him to seek psychiatric help.

"Jordan is giving us two Cobra helicopters. Those things we cannot really afford maybe in my term," Duterte said in a speech during the 120th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Navy.

Duterte admitted he was advised by his National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. not to curse United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein because the Philippines was in the process of acquiring the attack helicopters.

The President, however, still on went on with his profanity-laced tirades against Zeid, who, along with other UN rights officials have focused significant attention on allegations of state-sanctioned killings in the Philippines' war against illegal drugs.

In March, the Department of Justice filed a petition in court that accuses a Filipina special rapporteur of terrorism and alleged membership in the communist guerilla movement, prompting Zeid to ask Duterte to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

The President, in response, criticized Zeid's background as a person coming from a country which he said did not have a democratic mandate.

Zeid is a prince of Jordan which is under a constitutional monarchy. — RSJ, GMA News