A few days before a summit of leaders in Manila, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, said Thursday, stabbed someone to death and called to “slap” the UN Special Rapporteur on executions committed in the country. country.
“At the age of 16, I had already killed someone – a real person, a fight, stabbing, I was only 16. It was for a simple look.” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said in a speech on Thursday (November 9th) to the Filipino community of the Vietnamese city of Danang, stabbing someone to death when he was still a teenager.
A new shock statement for the head of state, elected in 2016 after promising to eradicate drug trafficking by shooting up to 100,000 suspected drug traffickers and drug addicts.
A few days before a summit of world leaders in Manila, the Philippine president also threatened, again in this speech, to “slap” Agnès Callamard, UN special rapporteur on summary or arbitrary executions. He also described as “son of a bitch” those who criticize his campaign of repression of drug trafficking.
“A follower of ‘hyperbole'”
Since coming to power, police have reportedly shot 3,967 people and 2,290 suspects were killed by drug suspects. Thousands of others have been shot in unspecified circumstances, according to police figures.
The president remains very popular in the archipelago, where many Filipinos feel that security has improved.
His entourage frequently asks journalists not to take it literally, emphasizing that he likes to joke and that he is a fan of “hyperbole”. His new spokesperson, Harry Roque, explained that his new statements could be exaggerated.
