THE EUROPEAN Delegation to the Philippines was mum on Wednesday following another expletive-laden rant by President Rodrigo Duterte, who railed on Tuesday against Brussels for condemning his deadly crackdown on drugs.
“We don’t comment on comments,” the EU delegation said in a brief statement.
“The European Union and the Philippines enjoy good relations, and we will continue to discuss this issue, among many others, in our bilateral contacts with the authorities,” it added.
After unleashing anger at the United States and the United Nations, Duterte on Tuesday lashed out at the bloc of 28 European states, saying they were hypocrites in calling him out over the rising number of drug-related killings in the Philippines.
“I read the condemnation of the European Union against me. I will tell them, fuck you. You’re doing it in atonement for your sins,” Duterte said in a speech before local government officials in Davao City.
He pointed out, for instance, that France and Great Britain had killed Muslims.
“And then EU now has the gall to condemn me. I repeat it, fuck you,” the President said.
‘Fix your problems first’
Teodoro Locsin Jr., the country’s next permanent representative to the United Nations, on Wednesday told the EU to fix its own problems before meddling with domestic issues.
“Europe, through Germany which controls Europe today, has destroyed the country of Greece. They reduced them to complete poverty as a lesson to the rest of Europe,” Locsin said in a television interview.
He said what’s happening in the Philippines was a legitimate police campaign to eradicate illegal drugs.
Some 3,000 drug suspects have been killed either by police or unknown assailants since Duterte took over on June 30.
Charles Jose, spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the EU should not rely on media reports when it issues statements to the media.
“Our call here [is for them to make statements] based on facts. They have [to verify] the information that only came from media,” Jose said.
He noted though that the Philippines and EU remain “close.”