Palace: Duterte OK with UN probe, but Callamard must agree to debate

UN special rapporteur on human rights Agnes Callamard (left) and President Rodrigo Duterte. (File photos from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, Agnes Callamard, could investigate alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines – only if she would agree to a public debate with President Rodrigo Duterte, who would also be allowed to ask her several questions under oath.

The condition, which Duterte already set months before, still remains, according to presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella.

In a news briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said: “I’m sure that the President is very clear about the conditionalities. And if she meets up, then it will have to be according to those conditionalities. As far as we can tell, he has not said that conditions are waived.”

On Monday, Duterte released an expletive-laced response to Callamard after she said the chief executive should ensure that the death of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos would be the last in his administration’s war on drugs.

“Son of a b****, tell her. Don’t try to scare me. Son of a b****. She’s a fool. Where is that fool from? What is her nationality?” Duterte told reporters in an interview during his visit to San Fernando, Pampanga.

The President then dared Callamard to visit the Philippines and investigate his administration’s war on drugs.

In a Facebook post, Callamard said: “I regret President Duterte’s response to my condolences to Kian Lloyd delos Santos’ family. Kian and others like him deserve dignity and justice. His family and families like his demand our respect and empathy. Not expletives.” /atm