‘Go to hell,’ Duterte tells UN Rapporteur

President Duterte said he will not recognize the position of United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Diego Garcia-Sayan and told him to “go to hell” for interfering with the country’s affairs.

Duterte made the outburst after Garcia-Sayan, UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, said that the judicial independence of the Philippines is under attack following the ousting of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno by the Supreme Court (SC).

“The decision of the Supreme Court was issued two days after the President of the Philippines publicly threatened the Chief Justice by saying that she was his enemy and that she should be removed from her job or resign,” Garcia-Sayan said.

Duterte, in a speech before his flight to South Korea, said that Garcia-Sayan is not a special person to interfere with domestic affairs.

“He is not a special person, and I do not recognize his rapporteur title. Tell him not to interfere with the affairs of my country. He can go to hell, sabihin mo (tell him that),” he said.

“P***. Nakikialam siya (Why is he interfering)? That’s an internal problem of the country. You should not meddle with it,” he added.

Duterte then reiterated that he had no hand in Sereno’s ouster and explained that his sentiments were just a result of him being emotional.

“Wala akong pakialam diyan. Sabihin mo ’yang p ***** i **** rapporteur na ‘yan, pumunta siya sa impiyerno (I had no hand there. Tell that rapporteur that he can go to hell),” he said.

“Hindi ako nakikialam. Eh siya ‘yung… Kaya ako nagalit (I do not interfere and yet Sereno’s accusing me that’s why I got mad). Why? Is it wrong?” he added.

Duterte then revealed that Solicitor General Jose Calida moved to file the quo warranto petition on his own because Calida was hurt when Sereno did not agree to allow the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani in 2016.

“Calida is doing it because he’s an Ilocano. He’s hurt because of ‘yung (the) denial sa burial ni (in the burial) Marcos. Akala niya nakikialam ako (She thought I had something to do with it),” Duterte said.

Claiming he was in the country for an “academic visit,” Garcia-Sayan told a press conference last Friday that he feared the ouster of Sereno threatened the country’s judicial independence.

He noted that despite the denials of President Duterte that he was involved in the ouster of Sereno, the fact is that the decision in the quo warranto case against the Chief Justice was issued two days after the President demanded her resignation.

The SC decision came as if on cue, the UN special rapporteur noted, and this should send a chilling message to other SC justices and members of the judiciary that they could no longer enjoy judicial independence.

“Not only do they constitute direct intimidation of the Chief Justice; they also appear to have had have a ‘chilling effect’ on other Supreme Court justices, who may have been deterred from asserting their judicial independence and exercising their freedom of expression,” the UN Rapporteur said.

Prior to his appointment as UN Special Rapporteur in December, 2016, Sayan had been a judge of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

This was not the first time Duterte lashed out on UN Special Rapporteurs. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Agnes Callamard and UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein were once subjects of Duterte’s colorful language.

Duterte criticized both Callamard and Zeid for criticizing his drug war, and Zeid also for saying that the President needs a psychiatric check after Duterte’s remarks on preliminary examination on the drug war. (With a report from Chito A. Chavez)