Connect with us

Headline

Don’t meddle with PH affairs, Duterte tells UN rapporteur

Published

on

FILE: United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Diego Garcia-Sayan should not interfere with Philippine affairs, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said Saturday.(Photo By Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom / Agência Brasil, CC BY-SA 3.0)

FILE: United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Diego Garcia-Sayan should not interfere with Philippine affairs, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said Saturday. (Photo By Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom / Agência Brasil, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Diego Garcia-Sayan should not interfere with Philippine affairs, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said Saturday.

Duterte made this remark in response to the UN rapporteur’s concerns on the President’s alleged public threats against ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

“Tell him not to interfere with the affairs of my country. He can go to hell,” Duterte said in a press conference before departing for his first official visit to South Korea slated June 3-5.

“That’s an internal problem of the country. You should not meddle it — with it, rather,” he added.

Duterte said that he neither consider Garcia-Sayan as a “special” person nor recognize his rapporteur title.

He reiterated that he never interfered with Sereno’s ouster and that it was all Solicitor General Jose Calida’s doing.

Sinabi ko na sa kanya wala akong pakialam diyan sa (I said I don’t care about that) impeach — ah sa quo warranto. Calida is doing it,” Duterte said.

Voting 8-6, the Supreme Court (SC) granted on May 11 the quo warranto petition filed by Calida against Sereno.

Duterte said anyone was free to ask any lawmaker if he had pressured them into impeaching Sereno.

Malacañang earlier said Garcia-Sayan has been misinformed when he reportedly said judicial independence in the Philippines is under threat.

“We find it unfortunate that Mr. Diego Garcia-Sayan has been misinformed on the case surrounding the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.

Roque reiterated that President Rodrigo Duterte’s “dislike” of former chief justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno is not an attack on the judiciary or an affront to judicial independence.

“It is a reaction to the allegations made by former CJ Sereno against the Chief Executive in many public fora saying the latter is behind her impeachment/quo warranto petition,” he said.

He said Malacañang recognizes the SC’s independence and respects the separation of powers among the three branches of government.

 

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maria in Vancouver

Lifestyle42 mins ago

Family Estrangement: Why It’s Okay

Family estrangement is the absence of a previously long-standing relationship between family members via emotional or physical distancing to the...

Lifestyle1 month ago

Becoming Your Best Version

By Matter Laurel-Zalko As a woman, I’m constantly evolving. I’m constantly changing towards my better version each year. Actually, I’m...

Lifestyle2 months ago

The True Power of Manifestation

I truly believe in the power of our imagination and that what we believe in our lives is an actual...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

DECORATE YOUR HOME 101

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Our home interiors are an insight into our brains and our hearts. It is our own collaboration...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

Guide to Planning a Wedding in 2 Months

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Are you recently engaged and find yourself in a bit of a pickle because you and your...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

Staying Cool and Stylish this Summer

By Matte Laurel-Zalko I couldn’t agree more when the great late Ella Fitzgerald sang “Summertime and the livin’ is easy.”...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Ageing Gratefully and Joyfully

My 56th trip around the sun is just around the corner! Whew. Wow. Admittedly, I used to be afraid of...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

My Love Affair With Pearls

On March 18, 2023, my article, The Power of Pearls was published. In that article, I wrote about the history...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

7 Creative Ways to Propose!

Sometime in April 2022, my significant other gave me a heads up: he will be proposing to me on May...

Maria in Vancouver6 months ago

Why Eating Healthy Matters

We are what we eat, so don’t be fast, cheap, easy, or fake — we should take these words to...