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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY August 16 - 31, 2016
HEADLINE
Duterte ready to defend drug war
in meeting with Obama
Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte is prepared
to defend before U.S. President Barack Obama the ongoing deadly war against
drugs in the Philippines.
Duterte has declared
that he is ready to discuss
any issues with Obama when
they meet at the sidelines of
the East Asia Summit of the
Association of Asian Nations
(Asean).
The Asean meeting is
being hosted by Laos in the
capital of Vientiane on September 6.
Duterte said that he
would demand that he be allowed to first explain the context of his merciless crackdown on the illegal drug trade
before engaging the U.S.
leader in a discussion of the
human rights situation in the
Philippines.
The White House said
on August 29 that Obama
planned to raise U.S. concerns over the extrajudicial
killings in Duterte’s war on
drugs when they meet in
Laos.
The U.S., United Nations and international organizations have expressed concern about the state of human rights in the Philippines
as the body count mounts in
Duterte’s campaign to stem
the illegal drug trade.
More than 2,000 drug
suspects have been killed,
nearly half of them in police
operations, since Duterte
took office on June 30.
On August 29, Duterte
took the campaign a step further, placing a U.S.$43,000
bounty on the heads of socalled “ninja” cops who are
thought to be protecting drug
syndicates.
Despite criticism from
the U.S., UN, Human Rights
Watch, and other rights
groups, Duterte – nicknamed
‘The Punisher’ – has vowed
to continue the campaign
throughout his entire term,
saying that drugs have infected “every nook and corner” of
the Philippines.
Responding to a
statement from UN special
rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard, in
which she urged the Philippines to halt extrajudicial executions and killings or face
punishment for “illegal” acts,
Duterte threatened to leave
the organization.
“I don’t give a shit
about [the UN],” he said.
“They are the ones interfering. You do not just go out
and give a shitting [sic] statement against a country.”
Duterte promised in
the presidential election campaign that he will immediately
launch a drive to kill tens of
thousands of criminals and
stamp out illegal drugs within
six months of his presidency.
Duterte said on August 31 that he was willing
to discuss the rights situation
with Obama, noting, “It depends at what degree.”
“They must understand the problem first before
we talk about human rights,”
he told reporters at Ninoy
Aquino International Airport,
where he met 120 Filipino
workers who had lost their
jobs in Saudi Arabia.
“I would insist, ‘Listen
to me. This is what the problem is.’ Then we can talk. No
problem,” the President said.
Criticism by the U.S.
government, UN rights experts and human rights
groups over the extrajudicial
killings have provoked angry
outbursts from Duterte, who,
at one point, threatened to
pull the Philippines out of the
United Nations.
In profanity-laced tirades, he said the United Nations had failed to prevent
genocidal killings in Africa
and the Middle East, and the
U.S. had failed to stop the killings of African-Americans by
white police.
The U.S. has urged
the Duterte administration
to ensure that law enforcement efforts comply with human rights obligations in the
crackdown on illegal drugs,
which includes forcing the
surrender of drug users and
detaining them.
“We are concerned
by these detentions, as well
as the extrajudicial killings of
individuals suspected to be
involved in drug activity in the
Philippines,” US state department spokesperson Elizabeth
Trudeau said.
“We strongly urge the
Philippines to ensure its law
enforcement efforts comply
with its human rights obligations,” she added.
The White House said
Obama would also raise concerns about some of Duterte’s
“recent statements” when
they meet.
It was a reference to
Mr. Duterte’s lashing out at
U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, branding him a “gay
son of a bitch”.
The White House
said, however, that there were
also important security issues
for Obama and Duterte to
discuss, particularly tensions
over freedom of navigation in
the South China Sea.
China has been incensed by a ruling against
its claims to almost all of the
South China Sea by an international arbitration court, in
an action brought by the Philippines.
Duterte is also expected to meet with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in
Laos.
“That I look forward
to,” he said. Asked why, he
said he liked Putin more. “We
have a lot of similarities,” he
said.
Canadian detained in the Philippines
following after drug arrest in Makati
A Canadian man is
being held at a jail in the
Philippines in connection to
illegal drugs.
Jeremy Eaton has
been in detention for two
months, and he has denied
allegations that he was
carrying drugs.
Eaton was arrested by
police in the city of Makati last
June.
According to a report
by the Ottawa Sun, little is
known about the Canadian’s
condition.
The
newspaper
reported
that
the
Canadian government has
acknowledged his detention.
However,
the
Canadian government has
remained tight-lipped, citing
privacy concerns.
“Consular
officials
in Manila are providing
consular services to a
Canadian being detained in
the Philippines,” said Austin
Jean, a spokesperson with
Global Affairs Canada, when
asked about Eaton’s arrest, in
the Ottawa Sun report.
“Canadian consular
officials are in touch with local
authorities on this matter,”
Jean said in an email on
August 30.
“To protect the privacy
of the individual concerned,
further