Philippines defends deadly drug war at UN, claims nation’s actions grabbed headlines for ‘wrong reasons’
Despite growing alarm and international criticism, the controversial Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte has said he won’t stop the campaign
Philippines Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay has told the United Nations his country’s new president, Rodrigo Duterte, had an “unprecedented” mandate and the world should not interfere in his crackdown on crime.
Addressing the annual UN General Assembly, Yasay said the Duterte government was “determined to free the Philippines from corrupt and other stagnating practices, including the manufacture, distribution and use of illicit drugs.
“Our actions, however, have grabbed both the national headlines and international attention for all the wrong reasons,” he said.
“We urge everyone to allow us to deal with our domestic challenges in order to achieve our national goals without undue interference.”
Duterte won a landslide election victory on May 9 after vowing to wipe out drugs and crime. Police said this week that in the past 11 weeks, nearly 3,000 people had been killed in Duterte’s war on drugs, a figure adjusted from the 3,800 they cited last week.