The United Nations was said to have apologized to President Rodrigo Duterte for doubting him, according to an online report.
The report, originating from a blog called latestdutertenews.altervista.org, claimed that people were shocked when UN released its latest statement about Duterte, extending their apologies to the Philippine president, when both do not agree with each other when it comes to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
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The UN has repeatedly criticized the bloody campaign against illegal drugs, while Duterte has also slammed the international body, even calling UN rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Agnes Callamard “stupid,” hurling expletives at her, and daring her to a debate if she pushes through with her plan to visit probe the killings in the country.
The blog also quoted the supposed UN statement: “We are sorry. Sorry Mr. President for doubting you. We hope you forgive us for criticizing you in your campaign against illegal drugs without realizing the good effects that’s happening in all the lives of ordinary people.”
We checked if other credible sources carried the said statement from the UN to Duterte, but could not find any. What we found instead were reports about how former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. demanded for Callamard to apologize for bringing “tremendous” harm to the Philippines when she urged the Duterte administration to “protect all persons from targeted killings and extrajudicial executions.
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Aside from the fact that we could not find credible sources carrying UN’s alleged statement apologizing to Duterte, the UN human rights chief recently criticized Duterte for supporting a “shoot-to-kill policy,” while noting the death of 17-year-old Kian Angelo delos Santos.
“In the Philippines, I continue to be gravely concerned by the President’s open support for a shoot-to-kill policy regarding suspects, as well as by the apparent absence of credible investigations into reports of thousands of extrajudicial killings, and the failure to prosecute any perpetrator,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
He made these remarks on September 11 during his speech before the 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council on human rights issues. In the same speech, he also mentioned “the recent killing of a schoolboy who was dragged into an alley and shot in the head by plains-clothed policeman on August 16,” referring to delos Santos’ case.
“However, suspicion of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) has now become so widespread that the initials EJK have reportedly become a verb in some communities – as in ‘he was EJKed,'” Zeid said.
“Two days after hundreds of people turned out for the teenager’s funeral, the President again told police they would not be punished for killing suspects who resist arrest. This lack of respect for the due process rights of all Filipinos is appalling,” he added.
“I urge the government to uphold the Philippines’ international human rights obligations, amid deeper reflection about the values that the Philippines stands for,” Zeid continued.
With this recent criticism from the UN human rights chief, it is just not possible that the UN apologized to Duterte for doubting the benefits of his war on drugs to the Filipinos. But it still fooled some netizens, who gloated over their belief that the UN really apologized to President Duterte.
One asked, “How about this CHR?” and shared the fake story to the group “(PANATA – Pagbabago) Pilipino Nagkakaisa sa Tunay Na Adhikaing Pagbabago.”
Another said, “Wow, Nice UNITED NATION… PDU30.”
A netizen also urged her fellow DDS to share the “news” and posted the story on “President Rody Duterte Facebook Army.”
Sources: ( sunstar.com.ph , philstar.com , rappler.com )
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