Ekip
06 October 2016•Update: 07 October 2016
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, the Philippines
President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out anew at international bodies late Thursday, daring the United States, the European Union and the United Nations to withdraw their assistance to the Philippines if they so wished.
In a televised speech broadcast live on state-owned television, Duterte said: "If you think it is high time for you guys to withdraw your assistance, go ahead. We will not beg for it."
He said the Philippines "will survive" without aid from such allies.
"I will be the first one to go hungry and I'll be the first one to die of hunger," he said, adding the Filipino phrase for "don't worry".
"But we will never never compromise our dignity as a Filipino."
And then he moved on to the subject which has so raised international ire, lamenting the "cycle of violence for everybody" due to illegal drugs -- a crisis he said other countries would not understand.
On Saturday, Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phelim Kine urged the U.S. and the EU to send a strong message to the Duterte administration that the Philippines "risks an immediate suspension of aid unless the abusive 'war on drugs' and its skyrocketing death toll comes to a halt".
In the three months since Duterte took office, an anti-drug campaign has left more than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead.
The U.S. and EU are among the Philippines' chief sources of official development assistance.
In August, the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines gave a subtle warning to the country, emphasizing that the monetary assistance it provides Philippines must "promote due process and rule of law".
"We strongly urge the Philippines to ensure its law enforcement efforts are consistent with its human rights obligations," it said.
On Thursday, Duterte said that international human rights groups and other countries do not understand the country's drug problem.
“You will never understand the pain that we are suffering. Go away bring your money to somewhere else. We will survive as a nation. There will always be a day for reckoning,” he underlined.
Earlier on Thursday, a survey said that a majority of Filipinos had given Duterte a high satisfaction rating for his first three months in office despite his controversial drug policy and expletive-laden remarks that have earned criticism from the international community.
The Philippine News Agency reported the president had yielded a “very good” net satisfaction rating and an approval level of 76 percent for his first three months in charge, citing an Oct. 6 survey by the Social Weather Stations.
