Outgoing Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sharply criticized Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the killings of innocent civilians in Ukraine, saying while the two of them have been tagged as killers, “I kill criminals, I don’t kill children and the elderly.”
Duterte, who openly calls Putin an idol and a friend, voiced his rebuke for the first time over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in remarks aired yesterday where he blamed the three-month old war for the spike in global oil prices that has battered many countries, including the Philippines.
While stressing he was not condemning the Russian president, Duterte disagreed with Putin’s labeling of the invasion as a “special military operation,” and said it was really a full-scale war waged against “a sovereign nation.”
“Many say that Putin and I are both killers. I’ve long told you Filipinos that I really kill. But I kill criminals, I don’t kill children and the elderly,” Duterte said in a televised weekly meeting with key Cabinet officials. “We’re in two different worlds.”
Duterte, who steps down on June 30 when his turbulent six-year term ends, has presided over a brutal anti-drugs crackdown that has left more than 6,000 mostly petty suspects dead. Human rights groups have cited a much higher casualty and say innocent people, including children, have been killed in the campaign that Duterte vows to continue up to his last day in office.
The unprecedentedly massive drug campaign killings have sparked an investigation by the International Criminal Court as a possible crime against humanity.
When he took office in 2016, he reached out to Russia and China for trade and investment and to expand military cooperation while often criticizing the security policies of Washington, Manila’s longtime treaty ally.
He visited Russia twice in 2017 and 2019 to meet Putin but cut short his first visit after Islamic State group-aligned militants laid siege on the southern Philippine city of Marawi while he was away with his defense secretary and military chief of staff.
More than a week after Russian forces laid siege on Ukraine, the Philippines voted in favor of a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning the Russian invasion. The Philippines appealed for the protection of civilians and public infrastructure in Ukraine, although Duterte held back from strongly criticizing Putin and said he would remain neutral in a conflict that could potentially lead to the use of nuclear weapons and spark WWIII. MDT/AP
