Philippines remains committed to the United Nations: Foreign minister
The United Nations called for an end to the wave of killings unleashed by Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs in the Philippines
The Philippines is not leaving the United Nations (UN), the foreign minister said on Monday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to quit the body after it called for an end to the wave of killings unleashed by his war on drugs.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said Duterte's statement "is a statement expressing profound disappointment and frustration".
"We are committed to the UN despite our numerous frustrations with this international agency," Yasay told a news conference.
On Sunday, Rodrigo Duterte railed against the United Nation after it called for an end to the wave of killings unleashed by his war on drugs, saying he might leave the organisation and invite China and others to form a new one.
Two UN human rights experts last week urged Manila to stop the extra-judicial executions and killings that have escalated since Duterte won the presidency on a promise to wipe out drugs. About 900 suspected drug traffickers have been killed since he came to power after winning the election on May 9. Duterte on Friday denied that the government was responsible and in a middle-of-the-night news conference in his home town, Davao, said the deaths were not the work of the police and invited U.N. experts to investigate themselves.