UNITED NATIONS - The Philippines' foreign secretary on Saturday pushed back against criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, telling the United Nations not to interfere. Perfecto Yasay, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, addresses the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Sept 24, 2016. "We urge everyone to allow us to deal with out domestic challenges in order to achieve our national goals, without undue interference," Perfecto Yasay told the UN General Assembly. "We have not and we will never empower our law enforcement agents to shoot-to-kill individuals suspected of drug crimes," the foreign secretary told the General Assembly. Earlier this month, Duterte declined a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of a meeting in Laos of South East Asian leaders.

Source: Bangkok Post September 24, 2016 21:33 UTC