appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Agence France-Presse

Rock star activist Bono says he has no plans to meet President Rodrigo Duterte while his band U2 is in the Philippines for its first concert in the country.
Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, instead sent a “soft message” to Duterte, whose violent crackdown against illegal drugs has been criticised by human rights activists worldwide.
“Human rights are critical,” the Irishman told a press conference with the Philippine Red Cross, which unveiled a partnership with a company that enables delivery of blood supplies via drones.
“I would just say you can’t compromise on human rights and that’s my soft message to the president.”

The Philippine leader has waged a deadly war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives.
Overwhelmingly backed by Filipinos but condemned by critics who say it is a war crime, the killings by police as well as unknown suspects are the subject of a preliminary inquiry by the International Criminal Court prosecutor.
Duterte wants ‘honest man’ to lead Philippine police or he’ll do it himself
Duterte, elected in a landslide in 2016, told supporters on the stump to “forget the laws on human rights” as he vowed to kill 100,000 criminals and dump their bodies into Manila Bay to fatten the fish.
He has also told police he would have their backs, vowing to hand out presidential pardons should they be prosecuted and sent to jail while enforcing his crackdown.
Bono, U2’s main singer and lyricist, said he had “no plans” to meet the 74-year-old Duterte.
“The president is very popular. He doesn’t need me on this side,” he added. “And as it happens, I have a very deep conviction about journalism. I probably would have been a journalist if I wasn’t this thing.”

The comments came a week before a Philippine court was to issue a verdict on the killing of 58 people, including 32 journalists and media workers, in 2009.
“The safety of journalists is very important and I think that democracy requires a free press,” Bono said. “I find some journalists a total pain … but I’m really glad they’re there.”
U2 are in Asia for their Joshua Tree Tour 2019 that will wrap up in the Indian city of Mumbai on Sunday. The sprawling Philippine Arena on Wednesday is the fourth stop.
Earlier stops included Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, as well as Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul.

Bono was not the first outspoken musician to speak out against Duterte’s drug war.
In 2016, American singer-songwriter James Taylor cancelled his planned Manila concert to protest extrajudicial killings in the country.
Duterte’s drug war has killed more than 5,500 alleged dealers and users who fought back during arrests, but watchdogs say the actual toll is at least four times higher.
International Criminal Court prosecutors have launched a preliminary probe of the killing, and the UN’s top rights body voted in favour an in-depth review.


ICC chamber rules case against Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs killings to proceed

Philippine lawmakers examine gap in Sara Duterte’s bank statements, declared wealth

Without restraint, Beijing and Manila can’t deliver the South China Sea code

Jailed witness reveals Duterte plotted to oust Philippines’ Marcos

Rodrigo Duterte

U2’s Bono urges Rodrigo Duterte to respect human rights, ahead of Manila concert on Joshua Tree Tour

U2 frontman Bono says he ‘probably would have been a journalist’ if he were not a singer. Photo: AFP

A human rights advocate holds up a mask featuring Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte during a march to mark International Human Rights Day in Manila on December 10, 2019. - Duterte has waged a deadly war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives. Overwhelmingly backed by Filipinos but condemned by critics who say it is a war crime, the killings by police as well as unknown suspects are the subject of a preliminary inquiry by the International Criminal Court prosecutor. (Photo by Maria TAN / AFP)

FILE - In this June 11, 2018 file photo, Bono of U2 performs during a concert at the Apollo Theater in New York. U2 raked in over $1 billion in sales to be named the artist of the decade by Pollstar. The touring trade publication tracks data on tours globally. It says U2 grossed $1.03 billion in ticket sales from November 2009 to November 2019. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - In this July 22, 2019, file photo, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during his 4th State of the Nation Address at the 18th Congress at the House of Representatives in Quezon city, Philippines. Duterte decided to end martial law in the southern Philippines after more than two years after government forces weakened Islamic militant groups considerably with the capture and killing of their leaders, his spokesman said Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

SEA Games: Manny Pacquiao and Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte open biennial as typhoon nears

Philippines boxing champion Manny Pacquiao during the opening ceremony of the SEA Games at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue. Photo: AFP

Southeast Asian Games - Opening Ceremony - Philippine Arena, Bocaue, Philippines - November 30, 2019 A spectators films the opening ceremony on their phone REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, left, sits beside Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during the opening ceremony of the 30th South East Asian Games at the Philippine Arena, Bulacan province, northern Philippines on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

(191201) -- BEIJING, Dec. 1, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the SEA Games 2019 in Bulacan Province, the Philippines, Nov. 30, 2019. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Southeast Asian Games - Opening Ceremony - Philippine Arena, Bocaue, Philippines - November 30, 2019 Spectators wave Philippine's flags during the opening ceremony REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez

Duterte fires Philippine vice-president Leni Robredo from anti-drugs tsar post after just 3 weeks

Leni Robredo. Photo: AP

In this photo taken on November 19, 2019, Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte talks during a late-night press conference at Malacanang Palace in Manila. - In the press conference, President Duterte criticised Vice-President Leni Robredo, who he assigned to lead his anti-drug crackdown, for discussing her work with United Nations officials who he alleged have criticised the drug war. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

Safety fears after Philippines names Oxfam a front for communist terror

An Oxfam charity shop in London. Photo: AP

epa07486022 Fighters of the New People's Army-Melito Glor Command (NPA-MGC) conduct a drill during their 50th founding anniversary celebration at an undisclosed location in the mountains of Sierra Madre, Philippines, 31 March 2019 (issued 05 April 2019). According to reports, the fight for communism is still alive in the mountains of the Philippines, with the New People's Army (NPA) celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the movement taking up arms on March 29. The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), is the oldest fighting communist guerrilla force in Asia. EPA-EFE/ALECS ONGCAL ATTENTION: This Image is part of a PHOTO SET

(FILES) This file photo taken on November 15, 1985 shows then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos (L) and his wife Imelda (R) appearing before some 35,000 college students undergoing a two-year compulsory military training in Manila. - The Philippine government has lost a decades-old legal effort to seize a multi-million-dollar chunk of Ferdinand Marcos' estate, a special anti-graft court said October 25, 2019, scolding prosecutors for failing to produce admissible evidence. (Photo by Romeo GACAD / AFP)

FILE - In this July 25 file photo, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana gestures while addressing the Philippine Coast Guard during turnover and blessing ceremony of several coast guard assets at their headquarters in Manila, Philippines. The Philippine defense chief has criticized China for what he says are bullying actions in the South China Sea and says Beijing's peaceful assurances contrast with its behavior in the contested sea. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

epa06171790 Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he speaks during the 23rd anniversary of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Taguig city, south of Manila, Philippines, 30 August 2017. Duterte said he would give job opportunities and housing to members of the communist armed group New People's Army (NPA) who will lay down their arms. The president ordered a stop to peace talks between the Philippine government and communist rebels, following recent attacks on government forces by the rebels in provinces outside the Philippine capital in recent months. The communist rebels have been fighting the Philippine government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia. EPA/FRANCIS R. MALASIG

An Oxfam charity shop in London. Photo: EPA

Rodrigo Duterte Halloween mask being sold on Amazon ‘amusing’, says spokesman

A Filipino Duterte supporter wears a mask of the Philippine president in Manila on October 4. Photo: EPA

A screen grab of the Rodrigo Duterte Halloween mask being sold on Amazon. Photo: Amazon

epa07895320 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (front L) attends a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow, Russia, 04 October 2019. Filipino President Duterte is on official visit to Russia. EPA-EFE/YURI KADOBNOV / POOL

How Gretchen and Marjorie Barretto feud shocked Rodrigo Duterte and transfixed Filipinos

Marjorie (left) and Gretchen Barretto. Photo: Instagram

Ang. Photo: Facebook

Philippine celebrity Gretchen Barretto. Photo: Instagram

Marjorie

clau

gret duterte

Photo: Philippine Department of Transportation

News

Asia

Southeast Asia


The Irish rocker says he has ‘no plans’ to meet the Philippine president while he’s in town for U2’s first concert in the Southeast Asian country
U2 are in Asia for their Joshua Tree Tour 2019 that will wrap up in the Indian city of Mumbai



The Irish rocker says he has ‘no plans’ to meet the Philippine president while he’s in town for U2’s first concert in the Southeast Asian country.
