Duterte threatens to ban 2 US lawmakers from coming to Manila

President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to ban two American lawmakers from coming to Manila after they criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for inviting him to visit the United States.

"If you do not like me, I do not like you. We're even," he said without naming the lawmakers.

Democratic Rep. James McGovern and Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren had called on Trump to highlight the human rights situation in the Philippines in his upcoming visit to Manila.

"I will tell them, you are too presumptuous. What made you think that I am even planning or thinking about visiting your country?"

The two American congressmen earlier asked Trump to raise concerns over the alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines in his meeting with Duterte.

In a letter addressed to Trump dated November 2, Hultgren and McGovern said, "During your upcoming visit to the Philippines for meetings with regional leaders at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit in Manila, including Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, we urge you to impress upon President Duterte the United States’ profound concern over reported extra-judicial killings associated with the Philippine government’s 'war on drugs.'"

"We certainly recognize the strategic importance of maintaining our strong partnership with the Philippines, especially amid rising tensions in the region over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and Chinese territorial sovereignty issues involving the South China Sea.  At the same time, we believe the United States must remain a champion of human rights, due process, and the rule of law," Hultgren and McGovern said.

The lawmakers mentioned the significant increase in the number of supposed extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, citing the Country Report on Human Rights for 2016 by the Department of State.

According to Hultgren and McGovern, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights deemed as "appaling epidemic" the increasing number of slays.

Hultgren and McGovern underscored that "human rights are fundamental and that every government should afford their citizens the protection and due process of the law." — with Reuters/MDM, GMA News