UN cannot interfere in state functions – Teddy Locsin

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations should not interfere with any state in its functions of protecting its citizens and eliminating threats, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said, amid a UN resolution seeking a review of the way the Philippine government has carried out its campaign against illegal drugs.

Locsin, speaking at the high-level debates of the UN General Assembly here in New York on Saturday, said the UN should not be used as a platform to threaten members that take a tough approach to crime.

“Some in the rest of the world may not like the electoral result; but the people back home are happy with their choice. It is theirs to make; and regret; but it is not the UN’s to decide,” he said, in an apparent reference to the landslide victory of administration candidates in the recent midterm polls.

“That may cause dismay among the civil in society; civil society is free to complain. Better yet, they should run for public office to gain legitimacy and be able to do something about it. But the UN is not free to interfere with the state in its defining function of protecting its citizens and stamping out threats,” he added.

In July, the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution on the human rights situation in the Philippines and directed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a comprehensive written report on the matter.

The resolution divided the 47-member body, with only 18 members supporting the proposal forwarded by Iceland.

Fourteen countries, including the Philippines, have voted against it; while the remaining 15 members abstained.

Protesting the resolution, President Duterte directed all concerned government agencies to suspend negotiations for and the signing of all loan and grant agreements with countries that co-sponsored and voted for the resolution.

At least two loans, from Germany and France, have been suspended in line with Duterte’s directives, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III was reported as saying.

In his statement before the UN, Locsin stressed that the UN is a collection of sovereign states and not a sovereign collective itself, noting that the organization is only effective as its members make it.

“The nations herein united should not let this platform be used to threaten others with accountability for taking a tough approach to crime; instead of taking seriously what they cannot: the Western proposition that the sure-fire way to end crime is to legalize it,” he said.

“Then it is no longer criminal. Well, that works after a fashion: not to punish lawbreakers but sit down and talk them out of repeating the only thing at which they are any good: crime,” he added.

While the country remains committed to the ideals of the UN, Locsin noted that human rights should start “with the right of the many who are good, to be safe and be protected from the bad.”