Philippines mulls cutting ties with Iceland

Working visit: Duterte (left) arriving at the Jolo airport in Sulu province, southern Philippines. Duterte’s threat is the latest show of his disdain for critics of the deadly campaign against illegal drugs. — AP

MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is “seriously considering” cutting diplomatic ties with Iceland, which spearheaded a resolution that asked the United Nation’s top human rights body to look into the thousands of deaths of suspects under his anti-drug crackdown.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said yesteday that the Iceland-initiated resolution, which was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in a vote last week in Geneva, showed “how the Western powers are scornful of our sove­reign exercise of protecting our people from the scourge of prohibited drugs.”