President Duterte reacted sharply to the statement of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that his country is very much concerned about the issue of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, calling it an “insult” to his administration.
He claims that foreigners do not understand his war against illegal drugs that has resulted in the arrest of many suspects and in the killings of drug pushers and addicts who fought it out with policemen. He urged his foreign critics to investigate first the alleged EJKs and human rights violations before jumping to conclusions.
Mr. Duterte may have a point in his defense but I think Trudeau was only stating a fact that many Canadians have expressed grave concern over. He was only being truthful that citizens of Canada, where many Filipinos are immigrants, are concerned with these unjustified killings. He was merely exercising his freedom of expression. What’s wrong with that?
EDGAR J. TAMAYO, ejtamayo@yahoo.com