In a sudden twist of fate, Philippine President Rodrigo
gives advice to to Myanmar’s Nobel Peace laureate and democracy icon Aung San
Suu Kyi.
Aung San Suu Kyi is the current State Counselor of Myanmar,
she was placed under house arrest for 15 years for her opposition of the
military rule in Myanmar .The 15 years of being under house arrest, her stance
for the democratic principles earned her a Nobel Peace prize in 1991.
Now her stature is being tainted by human rights critics for
her silence on the violence that is happening in the Rakhine state between the
minority Rohingya Muslims and Buddhist locals. *
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| Nobel Peace Prize awardee Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in India during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India( photo credit to ABSCBN) |
In last year’s hosting of Association of South East Asian
Nation (ASEAN) , the draft statement
that is usually done at the end of the summit , the said communique did not
make any mention of the exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state
following a military crackdown that has been described by the United Nations as
a clear case of ethnic cleansing.
And now both leaders
had the chance to meet as part of the 10 ASEAN leaders who were the chief
guests in the just concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations - India Commemorative
Summit in New Delhi, India.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is not immune to the harsh
criticism thrown at him by human rights advocates or groups. From the start of
his administration the criticisms has not stopped, it actually being amplified
more by those who are the oppositions or those politicians in the other side of
the fence.
But a shift in circumstances, his advice might change the
history of our ASEAN brother state, in a chance meeting with Aung San Suu kyi
he told the latter to just ignore the human rights critics.
Aung San Suu Kyi was with us. I pity her, because she seems
to be caught in the middle being a Nobel peace prize winner and there is the
ruckus where she is heavily criticized,” Duterte said in a speech in New Delhi.
*
"I said, 'Don't mind the human rights, they are just a
noisy bunch.’”
It is estimated that more than 650,000 members of the
minority group have fled to Bangladesh to escape a crackdown by Myanmar’s military.
“Ethnic Cleansing” was the description that the United
Nations has described what is now happening to the Rohinya muslims, but Suu Kyi
said that the term was “too strong” to describe the events happening in her
country.
Human Rights advocates here in the country has condemned the
President and has accused him of encouraging extrajudicial killings.
Duterte in the same speech did not let the occasion pass in
lambasting the United Nations , the European Union and the human rights groups
who have been always critical of his anti-drug campaign.
“The UN has no purpose at all, actually, for mankind,” Duterte
said.
“As far as I’m concerned, with all its inutility, it has not prevented
any war, it has not prevented any massacre. And here I am trying to protect my
country, (the UN is) saying that I have killed 10,000,” he said.
Duterte also ranted about the United States’ supposed efforts to impose
their views on other countries and the imperialists’ exploitation of the
resources of territories they conquered. *
“Until now, America once took – acting like the conscience of the people
and – trying to police everybody. That’s the problem. You impose your values,
you are very strong and at that United Nations has no purpose at all actually
for mankind,” the President said.
“Too much emphasis or importance for the libertarians about human rights
here and there. If you put human rights ahead in premium and values, then one
day just like the four million Filipinos and the Philippines, you would lose
dignity – you erode, derogate the dignity of your fellowmen,” Duterte added.
“We are not the strong men. Nobody is strong in a democratic country. We
do it by the rules.”
Report from PhilStar
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