Philippines leader threatens to quit U.N. over criticism of crime crackdown

President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations, as he launched another profanity-laced tirade against critics of his bloody war on crime on Sunday. The acid-tongued populist ridiculed the U.N. as useless and highlighted police killings of black men in the U.S. He also pointed to the haunting image of a bloodied child pulled from the rubble of a missile-struck building in the Syrian city of Aleppo to hit at the inability of the U.N. and U.S. to stop such deadly conflicts. “Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations,” he said. “If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you.”

You now, United Nations, if you can say one bad thing about me, I can give you 10 [about you]. I tell you, you are an inutile. Because if you are really true to your mandate, you could have stopped all these wars and killing.

Rodrigo Duterte

More than 1,500 people have been killed since Mr Duterte took office and immediately began his law-and-order crackdown, triggering fierce criticism from the UN and rights groups. They said his promise of immunity and bounties to security forces who killed drug suspects violated international law. In his latest outburst, Mr Duterte said the U.N. had done nothing for the Philippines – conveniently ignoring its poverty reduction programmes and enormous help following typhoons and other natural disasters. He also threatened to set up a rival international organisation, saying: “I would invite everybody. I would invite maybe China, the African (nations).”

So take us out of your organisation. You have done nothing. Where were you here the last time? Never. Except to criticise

Mr Duterte

duterte