The human rights-less meeting between Duterte, Tillerson

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday dismissed media questions about his government’s human rights record and the American concern over this.

Instead, Duterte and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson focused on the alliance between the two countries and the North Korean missile and nuclear arms program. Tillerson is the most senior Trump administration official to date who has met with Duterte.

“Human rights, son of a bitch,” Duterte said. “Policemen and soldiers have died on me. The war now in Marawi, what caused it but drugs? So human rights, don’t go there.”

The Philippine president said that he shouldn’t be questioned about human rights considering the serious challenges he was facing.

The commitment against terror

The ministers of the members of ASEAN renewed their commitment to fight terrorism and prevent the so-called Islamic State from establishing a foothold in the region.

“In line with this, we reaffirmed our commitment to fight ISIS and other violent extremist groups to effectively curb their spread, as well as preventing them from gaining a foothold in the region,” the communiqué of the group read, referring to IS by its variant.