Image from dutertecayetano.com - The president-elect shot back at two UN human rights advocates who sounded off on him
- He clarified himself, said he never justified the killing of journalists
- He also said he will continue to protect the rights of journalists and citizens of the country
MANILA, Philippines – Scoring the two United Nations (UN) rapporteurs for saying he was instigating violence against journalists, president-elect Rodrigo Duterte flatly denied the accusations and instead said they were twisting his words.
“I never said that killing journalists is justified because they are involved in corruption. What I said is that you don’t have to be a journalist to be the subject of an assassination,” CNN Philippines quoted him as telling UN Rapporteurs Cristof Heyns and David Keye.
Duterte — who described Heyns and Keye as “adept at fumigation” — added that journalists who were killed because they were corrupt do not even deserve to be called as such in the first place.
“The noble vocation of journalism does not apply to extortionists and criminals,” he said. “By chance, do they know the rule on fair play and the right to be heard?”
While acknowledging that there are indeed journalists who are killed because of their advocacies and not because they were on the take, Duterte nevertheless promised to chase after those who kill them — regardless if they were clean or corrupt.
“I do not condone nor tolerate killing of journalists regardless of the motive of the killers or the reason for their killing,” he said. “My duty as President is to uphold and enforce the law and I will pursue and prosecute these killers to the hilt in accordance with law, and I will be — as I have been — protective of the rights of journalists, and for that matter of any citizen, of the Republic.”
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