President Rodrigo Duterte of Philippines on Thursday threatened to kick out ambassadors from European countries for allegedly interfering in the country’s internal affairs by criticising the government’s controversial anti-drug campaign.
Duterte issued the threat after a group of visiting European parliamentarians warned that the Philippines could face sanctions if the spate of killings related to the drug war does not stop.
He also alleged that the “stupid European Union guys” wanted to get the Philippines expelled from the UN.
The comment came because they apparently led a group of countries in calling on the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the killings.
Duterte dared them to call for a vote to expel the Philippines from the UN, saying: “Do you think Russia and China will agree?
“Do you think China and the rest of the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will agree to that?
“Now, the ambassadors of those countries listening now, tell me. Because we can have the diplomatic channel cut tomorrow.
“You leave my country in 24 hours. All of you,” he added.
“You are interfering in our affairs because we are poor,” he said in a speech at the launching of a new press briefing area in the presidential palace compound.
“You give us financial aid then you start to orchestrate what things should be done and which should not happen in my country, you bitches.”
European countries have been among the staunchest critics of Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs, which have left more than 3,000 people dead in police operations and alleged vigilante killings.
Human rights groups have also called for an independent investigation into the drug war, alleging that the death toll could be as high as 12,000 and that police were killing suspects without giving them a chance to prove their innocence in court.
The EU Delegation in the Philippines said it has not received any official communication from Manila regarding Duterte’s threat.
“The Delegation continues to operate and function normally, and is committed to working constructively and productively with the Philippines for the benefit of the population,” it said in a statement.
The delegation noted that the trip by European parliamentarians belonging to the Progressive Alliance and the Party of European Socialists earlier this week was not an EU mission.
The parliamentarians warned that the Philippines risked losing a preferential trade deal that allows more than 6,000 of its products to enter the EU duty-free if the government fails to stop the killings.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said Duterte’s “expression of outrage” was in reaction to the warnings by the seven-member delegation of the Progressive Alliance, which he said “demean our status as a sovereign nation.”
“The call of the president for EU ambassadors to leave the country in 24 hours must be taken in this light,” Abella said in a statement after Duterte’s speech.
“For so long has our president tolerated these undue interferences in our domestic affairs, and he has decided that these must stop if only to preserve the integrity and dignity of our state as a sovereign nation,” he added.