New York Times slams Duterte: Hit Philippines where it hurts most

MANILA, Philippines — The New York Times again wrote a blistering article about President Rodrigo Duterte, criticizing the president anew for his brutal campaign to eradicate illegal drugs and calling on the country’s trading partners to hit the Philippines where it may hurt the most.

In an editorial, the Times said that the Philippines’ trading partners should emulate European Union’s (EU) plan to impose tariffs on Philippine goods in the wake of the government’s bloody anti-drugs campaign, plan to reinstitute death penalty and move to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to nine years old.

“Outraged by Mr. Duterte’s behavior, as well as his government’s possible reinstatement of the death penalty and lowering the age for criminal prosecution to 9, the E.U. has proposed hitting his government where it may hurt the most — by imposing tariffs on Philippine goods,” said the Times, one of the most multi-awarded and prominent newspapers in the US.

It added: “Other democratic trading partners should do the same.”

This is the second New York Times article on Duterte in the past week. In its story titled, “Becoming Duterte: The making of a Philippine Strongman,” the newspaper chronicled the president’s rise from an elite childhood in Davao City to his stint as its mayor and later to his successful presidential bid.

The piece told the story of the president’s violent vision that had turned into a national policy.

Malacañang sharply criticized this article, saying that this was a “hack job” for people with “shady motives.” Without offering evidence, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella insinuated that moneyed individuals were behind the article.

The newspaper also called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to initiate a “thorough [and] independent” investigation into the killings attributed to the war on drugs.

The Times also characterized the president as “impervious to moral criticism” as he continued to brush aside and hit back at his critics both at home and abroad.

It said that this attitude of the president was evident in his administration’s “spurious charges” against Sen. Leila De Lima, one of Duterte’s fiercest and most vocal critics.

The news organization also called for the immediate release of the senator who was accused of accepting money from the illegal drugs trade at the New Bilibid Prison.

“Ms. de Lima, who is still in custody, should be released immediately, and all politically motivated charges against her dropped,” the editorial said.

It said that although the impeachment against Duterte was likely to be thrown out by the House of Representatives dominated by his allies, this could pave the way for the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court as.

“President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines relishes his image as a defiant crusader, willing to encourage the slaughter of thousands in the name of saving his nation from the scourge of drugs,” it said.

It added: “More than 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers, witnesses and bystanders — including children — have been killed by the police or vigilantes in the Philippines since last July.”

Duterte’s government and some international media outfits have always had a sour relationship especially since the killings in the wake of his drug war dominated the news. In early March, Abella lashed out at CNN for calling the arrest of De Lima a “political persecution.”