Duterte to UN rights chief: Shut up, we pay your salary

PAMPANGA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, December 22, lambasted the United Nations (UN) human rights chief for asking the judiciary to investigate him for admitting that he had killed 3 people when he was a mayor of Davao City.

The Chief Executive reminded the UN official, whom he did not name, that the Philippines, as a member state of the international organization, pays for the salary of UN employees like him.

Mr. Duterte did not mention the name of the official but was apparently referring to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

The Philippine Commission on Human Rights has since formed a team to look into Duterte’s admission that he had killed crime suspects.

During the gathering of the about 9,000 women volunteers for a community drug watch program in Pampanga, Duterte stressed that UN officials have no right to tell him what to do because he, as the elected president of the Philippines, is an employer of these officials.

“There’s one United Nations official, human rights. He said Duterte is a murderer and must be charged for murder. This guy is ever a joker or a bit insane,” he said to the cheers and applause of the audience on the parade ground at the Clark Freeport Zone.

“Ang mahirap dito sa United Nations, you guys, you are employed by an organ composed of nations whose officials are elected by the people. You, kayong mga opisyal sitting there on your asses, we pay you your salaries. You idiot. You do not tell me what to do. I am your employer. Who gave you the right? Kulang kayo ng [knowledge of] international law. Kami ang may contribution sa United Nations. Kung di ba kayo mga tarantado, putang ina. Ako ang nagbabayad sa s’weldo mo,” the fuming President said.

(The problem with the United Nations, you guys, you are employed by an organization composed of nations whose officials are elected by the people. You officials sitting there on your asses, we pay you your salaries. You idiot. You do not tell me what to do. I am your employer. Who gave you the right? You lack knowledge of international law. We are the ones who contribute to the United Nations. You shameless sons of a whore. I pay your salaries.)

Duterte continued before an amused crowd: “Ako ang nagbabayad sa s’weldo mo. Huwag ka d’yan magsalita na akala mo empleyado mo ako. I am [the head of] a member state, a sovereign state. Please shut up. Ang utak ninyo d’yan kulang. Do not do that. You’re just an employee there. Appointed kayo.” (I’m the one who pays your salary. Don’t talk as if I’m your employee. I am the head of a member state, a sovereign state. Please shut up. Your brain is small. Do not do that. You’re just an employee there. You’re appointed.)

“You are just employees of an office there whose subsidy comes from the pockets of the member-states. You strut around as if you’re a sovereign idiot. Go back to school. You do not know diplomacy. You do not know how to behave to be [an] employee of the United Nations. You do not talk to me like that, you son of a bitch,” Duterte said. 

Referring to Zeid calling him out in September for his supposed “lack of understanding of our human rights institutions and the principles which keep societies safe,” Duterte said on Thursday there is no law in the Philippines that criminalizes making threats to suspected criminals.

“If I say, ‘If you meddle in the affairs of my country, I will kill you,’ that is a legitimate statement. If I say, ‘Do not destroy the youth of the land because you will be destroyed,’ what’s wrong with that?” he said.

Duterte said the UN human rights official can come to the Philippines if he wants to, but added, “Mamaya sampalin kita (I might just slap you).”

In early June this year, before his formal assumption to office, Duterte had told then outgoing UN chief Ban Ki-moon to “shut up,” also because the latter condemned Duterte’s endorsement of extrajudicial killings. 

A week ago, the Philippine president admitted to killing hostage takers in Davao City when he was mayor. In March, he admitted to Esquire magazine that he “maybe” killed a man during a beach rumble when he was 17. – Rappler.com