FM Yasay : Philippines Will Not Leave UN

Manila, the Philippines, 19 Dzulqa’dah 1437/22 August 2016  (MINA) — Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. on Monday said that the Philippines will not leave the United Nations despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent remarks.

“We are committed to the UN despite our numerous frustrations with this international agency,” Philstar quoted Yasay as saying in a press conference.

Yasay clarified that the president never threatened to withdraw membership to the UN and that he was only expressing his disappointment over the comments of the UN’s special rapporteurs.

“The president was tired, disappointed, hungry when he made the statement. We must give him leeway. He is also human,” Yasay said.

In a press conference early Sunday, Duterte lambasted statements made by UN special rapporteurs in connection with the government’s war on drugs.

The president said that the UN rapporteurs broke protocol when they came out with statements criticizing his administration.

“The UN could not end wars and maintain peace among its members, had not done any good for the Philippines… So take us out of your organization. You have done nothing,” Duterte said.

The United Nations, through its agencies like the World Health Organization and UNICEF, has programs in the Philippines. It also helped in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda and the Zamboanga siege in 2013.

Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said that the Philippines cannot withdraw membership under the UN charter but it can pull out its support. He noted that a few countries such as Indonesia and Syria attempted to leave the UN but were not successful.

“The president was appalled by the comment of the UN rapporteur…against all of these illegal or these criminals who have been victimizing our citizens,” Andanar said in an interview with ANC’s Headstart on Monday morning. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)