Duterte to UN rights chief: You have a big head but it’s empty

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in his speech during the inauguration of the Lisap Bridge Project in Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro on April 3, 2018, cites that the government could build more bridges like the Lisap Bridge if there is no resistance from armed groups. ALBERT ALCAIN/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

Even after being advised not to comment on international criticisms lodged against him and his drug war, President Rodrigo Duterte still sought revenge to United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Husein, calling him “empty-headed.”

“Look, you have a big head but it’s empty. There is no gray matter between your ears. It’s hollow. It’s empty. It cannot even sustain a nutrient for your hair to grow,” Duterte said in a speech on Tuesday, April 3.

Zeid last month said that the Philippine President needs to see a psychiatrist, and that his verbal attacks on UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings Agnes Callamard, who denounced his controversial anti-illegal drug campaign, could not go unanswered.

“Hoy, p***** i** mo, commissioner ka. Ako kailangan magpunta ng psychiatrist (You, son of a b*tch, commissioner. I need to visit a psychiatrist)?” Duterte asked.

“Sabi ng psychiatrist sa akin, “Okay ka man, Mayor. Pala-mura ka lang. Either mayabang ka o talagang bastos ka (The psychiatrist told me that I’m okay. It’s just that I’m fond of cursing. I’m either boastful or I’m just rude),” he added.

Responding to the criticisms he received, Duterte admitted that he is indeed an ill-mannered person and that there is nothing he can do about it.

“Sabihin nila nagpapatay ako ng tao? Eh nagpapatay talaga ako ng tao. P***** i** sige mag-droga ka diyan. Sinabi nang huminto kayo eh (They say I kill people? Yes, I really kill people. Son of a b*tch, go ahead and use drugs here. I already told you to stop),” he continued.

Addressing human rights groups, the President said that they are “dreaming” if they think they can put him in jail.

The Philippine leader launched his diatribe on world leaders such as former United States (U.S.) President Barack Obama, Pope Francis, and critics of his anti-crime crackdown.

Duterte won the election in 2016 on a campaign promise to make the Philippines a drug-and crime-free country within six months.

On January 2018, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that the number of alleged drug offenders killed in police operations has reached nearly 4,000, but human rights groups claimed that the actual number is three times higher.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) already started its preliminary examination into the thousands of killings carried out in the administration’s war on drugs.