DAVAO CITY—The international community should take the statements of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte with a grain of salt while he’s still mayor of Davao City, incoming Foreign Affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay said Friday, after UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon condemned Duterte’s “apparent endorsement” of summary executions.
Duterte’s remarks, which have smarked outrage among media groups and the international community, were taken out of context, Yasay said.
He also chided Ban for reacting to Duterte’s pronouncements, saying that until he has been sworn in, his remarks should not to be taken as official policy.
“He is still mayor of Davao City and not yet president so anytime he says something it’s not an official pronouncement or policy of the president,” Yasay told CNN Philippines.
He said Ban should have been more “circumspect.”
On Thursday, Ban voiced opposition to Duterte’s “apparent endorsement” of extrajudicial killings.
Speaking before the international press during the UN Correspondents Association Directory Reception in New York, Ban said that he was “extremely disturbed” by Duterte’s recent remarks regarding attacks against Filipino journalists.
“I unequivocally condemn his apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killing, which is illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms. Such comments are of particular concern in light of ongoing impunity for serious cases of violence against journalists in the Philippines,” Ban said.
The UN chief also pledged to continue to stand up for the rights of journalists.
Yasay took Ban to task for raising the issue publicly.
“I think if the [secretary-general] is really interested to pursue these concerns, he should have coursed it through government channels,” he said.
“My understanding is that he [Ban] should not have made these statements in response to an individual or private citizen’s statements rather than a pronouncement of policy,” he added.
Before Ban’s statement, UN special rapporteurs on freedom of expression and on summary killings criticized Duterte for saying the journalists who were killed were corrupt.
In a statement coursed through reporters, Duterte defended himself, saying their statements were based on the wrong premise. He also denied saying corrupt journalists deserved to die.
“I never said that killing journalists is justified because they are involved in corruption,” Duterte said.
“I do not condone nor tolerate killing of journalists regardless of the motive of the killers or the reason for their killing,” Duterte said. “My duty as president is to uphold and enforce the law and I will pursue and prosecute these killers to the hilt in accordance with law, and I will be—as I have been—protective of the rights of journalists, and for that matter of any citizen, of the republic.”
Duterte had previously criticized the United Nations for failing to stop killings in the Middle East and Africa, adding that the international organization should not force its “code of conduct” on him.
“I never signed anything which says I have to behave … in this manner or in that manner,” he said.
During the election campaign, Duterte also slammed the UN for “bamboozling us to obey,” climate change agreements while failing to impose sanctions on industrialized countries who have caused greater damage on the environment.