With over 12,500 Filipino casualties in the Philippines last year, the UN Human Rights Council has taken notice of the significant loss of life. Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines enacted a large scale governmental policy that allows the merciless killing of drug sellers and users. With much backlash from the western world, the “War on Drugs” has had continuous support from the Filipino people. Not only does the policy seem larger than life, but Duterte is arguably more animated than his ideas. Switching between English, Spanish, and Filipino, Duterte last week spoke out against the criticism he’s received from the UN, with a expletive-filled press conference in which he dropped insults against France, the UK, and the US, arguing that the reasons they have terrorism problems is due to their “stealing oil from the Arabs.” He continued along with threats to remove EU and UN ambassadors within 24 hours if the criticism continues. In addition, he hinted that if the Philippines dropped the US as an ally, they would not have a problem looking towards China for the support, something the west would not approve of. So what should the UN do in this poker hand with the Philippines? If the war continues with more deaths, there may be a point in the near future at which the government calls it enough and dials back the killing, but also the world leaders aren’t sure if the word “enough” is part of Duterte’s vocabulary. For now, the UN will have to sit and see what happens in the coming months, and if there’s additional violation of human rights, then the UN will no doubt cast more criticism Duterte’s way.
