President Duterte is prepared to take legal action against a United Nations envoy amid baseless allegations he was involved in extrajudicial killings in the country.
The President threatened to arrest and prosecute UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Agnes Callamard after supposedly prejudging him without proper investigation.
Callmard recently visited Manila and criticized the Duterte government’s deadly war on illegal drugs that led to more than 1,000 violent deaths.
The UN official also backed a statement by drug abuse expert Carl Hart claiming there was no evidence shabu use leads to violence or causes brain damage. Hart’s statement debunked Duterte’s repeated claim that constant use of shabu shrinks the brain.
“If you want to testify against me, you must be under oath, including the rapporteur. If you want to state your charges, be under oath because if there is anything false or a lie there, I will go after you,” the President said over his new television program last Friday night.
“And I will see to it that you’ll go to jail first. Talagang hahatakin, even if you are a foreigner, I don’t know if you enjoy diplomatic advantage. But again, pagka ginawa mo ‘yan dito, I will arrest you. You are committing perjury,” he said.
The President has rejected Callamard’s claims that shabu does not damage the brain, saying users of illegal drugs have actually become deranged and committed heinous crimes.
He pointed out that 77,000 Filipinos died from drug-related crimes in the past several years. “Alam mo pagka ganun ang ginagawa ng tao whether you like it or not, he is crazy. Ang tao na mag rape ng 18 years old, one year old na bata must be crazy,” he said.
Duterte said by insisting shabu use is harmless, his critics was suggesting the drug suspects were supposedly killed “for nothing.”
“In-assume na tuloy ninyo na ‘yan, ibig sabihin pinatay mo for nothing, ‘yan ang gusto ninyong palabasin eh. Pinapatay ko, dahil durugista, siraulo, baka patayin mo naman ‘yung hindi loko-loko. Ngayon, sinabi ninyo yung drugs okay ‘yan, parang aspirin lang ‘yan at pinatay mo pa,” he said.
Duterte said Callamard was welcome to visit the country again but he would not pay any attention. He said she was “crazy” to think he would undergo an investigation when she has already made a premature judgment about shabu use.(Genalyn D. Kabiling)
