NEW YORK, USA: Philippines to UN: Don’t interfere – DFA voices out Duterte stand on drug war

Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., addressing the 74th session of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 28,

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The Philippines on Saturday said the United Nations should not interfere when a country chooses to take strong-arm tactics against criminality.

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Addressing the 74th session of the UN General Assembly on Sept. 28, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the UN is not “free to interfere” whenever a state takes a hardline approach toward stamping out crime.

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“Civil society is free to complain. Better yet, they should run for public office to gain legitimacy to be able to do something about it.

But the UN is not free to interfere with the state in its defining function of protecting its citizens and stamping out threats,” Locsin said.Exhorting other leaders and diplomats from various member-states, the Philippines’ top diplomat appealed to world leaders not to allow the UN body to be used as an instrument against their resolve to eliminate crimes in their respective countries.

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“The nations here in United Nations should not let this platform be used to threaten others with accountability for taking a tough approach to crime,” Locsin said.

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“The UN is a collection of sovereign states, not a sovereign collective itself. It is only as effective as its members make it. It harnesses sovereignties, not for some against others, but to common purposes of peace and productive cooperation,” he said.

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The Philippines, being a founding member of the organization since it was established in 1946, has always been committed to the goals of the UN, with the belief that “the UN’s work must reflect the realities of the times,” Locsin said.“Only then can the UN stay relevant and become effective.

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The aspiration of the vast majority of my people today—call them shortsighted or just plain wrong—is to be free of drugs and safe from crime.

Is that so hard to understand? It seems impossible for some to accept. But the cartel can be persuasive in kind if not in reason,” he said.

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“The United Nations is the core of the multilateral global order. As long as the UN exists, none can trumpet the end of multilateralism. But it must be a United Nations strengthened and capacitated in its every member, so that all collectively may achieve its aim of peace and safety,” he said.

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