READ: UN not invited to probe Duterte drug war, spokesman says.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NNlO8xgVGIGE26IBufk6KnhOkc9ULOEOAiri5rdGMWOScNxkRSg1U8MNibWjrIYMmxs0cRoP-H3f3mPIiMLcUnZ4_rN3_QS3Uw6a5THx-yjEzJs6pyZdeSHXBT9zT4-8awE1orOzEgw/s1600/duterte-082016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2NNlO8xgVGIGE26IBufk6KnhOkc9ULOEOAiri5rdGMWOScNxkRSg1U8MNibWjrIYMmxs0cRoP-H3f3mPIiMLcUnZ4_rN3_QS3Uw6a5THx-yjEzJs6pyZdeSHXBT9zT4-8awE1orOzEgw/s640/duterte-082016.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> MANILA - The United Nations was not invited to the Philippines to investigate President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, his spokesman said Saturday, dismissing the world body's criticism as "unwelcome meddling."</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella clarified a statement by Duterte's chief legal counsel, Salvador Panelo, that two UN human rights experts who raised alarm over deaths linked to the anti-crime campaign should "<a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/19/16/philippines-tells-un-duterte-not-committing-crime" style="color: #eb1e23; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">come over</a>" and see the "real situation." </div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on summary executions, promptly responded on Twitter saying: "Invitation to investigate welcomed. Ready to 'see for myself.'"</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> "The Philippines has not extended any invitation to any body, nor the U.N. to look into its national affairs. We are capable of our own internal dialogue," Abella said in a statement.</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> Duterte views the actions of security forces waging the anti-drug campaign with the "presumption of regularity," Abella said, adding the drug scourge was "being responsibly addressed."</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> "The President therefore finds the pronouncements from certain bodies as unwelcome meddling in national matters," he said.</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> "The liberal Western values being imposed upon an Asian nation that places premium on common good is both insensitive and displays a lack of appreciation for the diversity of global culture," he said.</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> According to data culled by ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, 1,127 drug suspects have been killed from May 10, when Duterte's election mandate became clear, to August 19.</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> The death toll includes 682 who were killed in police operations, 351 who were killed by unidentified assailants and 94 others, whose bodies were found away from the crime scene.</div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="font-family: franklin-gothic-urw, Arial, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; padding: 10px 0px;"> SOURCE: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/20/16/un-not-invited-to-probe-duterte-drug-war-spokesman-says" target="_blank">ABS-CBN</a></div>

(UN)UNITED NATIONS READ: UN not invited to probe Duterte drug war, spokesman says.

MANILA - The United Nations was not invited to the Philippines to investigate President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, his spokesm...

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