Former top cop now Senator-elect Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. INQUIRER.net file photo / Gabriel Pabico Lalu
Updated (9:25 p.m.)
MANILA, Philippines — “Pakialaman nila yung bansa nila, huwag nila pakialaman yung bansa natin.”
(They should mind their own country and not meddle with our country’s affairs.)
Senator-elect Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said this to the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR) Michelle Bachelet after the commissioner bared that the Philippines is being monitored due to the “extraordinarily high” drug-related killings.
Dela Rosa also questioned the UNCHR, asking if there are existing anomalies in other countries.
“Are you sure yung bansa nila walang mga dapat pansinin nila? Bakit nila pinapakialaman ang Pilipinas?” Dela Rosa said in an ambush interview after the Private Security Industry Summit 2019 in Camp Crame on Wednesday.
READ: UNCHR says PH drug war’s death toll ‘extraordinarily high’
On Monday, Bachelet reiterated her call for a “comprehensive and transparent information” from the Philippine government. She said she was alarmed by the persistent reports of extrajudicial killings in relation with the crackdown against illegal drugs.”
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said 6,600 people were killed in the bloody drug war of the Duterte administration from June 2016 to May 2019.
Dela Rosa led the President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown against illegal drugs during his term as the PNP chief from July 2016 to April 2018.
READ: 6,600 killed in war vs drugs from July 2016 to May 2019 — PNP
What is OHCHR?
Bachelet is the High Commissioner of the Office of the High Commission of Human Rights (OHCHR) which prevents human rights violations and secures human rights for all people.
The OHCHR offers assistance through “technical expertise” and “capacity development” to support the implementation of international human rights standards.
It is also tasked to help governments fulfill their obligations in protecting the human rights of its citizens.
The UN body is composed of 1,300 experts in its headquarters in Geneva and in New York. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)