I’m telling the UN that it is inutile when it comes to the protection of the seas.

The United Nations (UN) is practically useless in the enforcement of international laws, particularly in protecting the safe passage of commercial vessels that are manned to a great extent by Filipino crew, President Rodrigo Duterte said in an address at the Palace late Thursday.

“If not Japanese, they are Filipinos or Indonesians. They are the favorite of the pirates. I’m telling the UN that it is inutile when it comes to the protection of the seas.

The UN, in fact, has failed to establish order in this planet,” the President noted.

With the UN being ineffective, the vessels passing through waters infested by marauders are “to each his own.”

“It has not established order. It has not prevented wars. It has not taken any punitive, strong action against the pirates,” according to Mr. Duterte.

“At one time, I challenged South Korea which has citizens kidnapped along with Filipinos. I offered to send my Navy ships there to patrol the areas and whenever you see the idiots there, fire your cannons and blast them to kingdom come. Do not give them a chance to live and to kidnap again,” he said. “You know in such cases, can you impose human rights? Does it really apply there also?

And the victims, can they have the human rights even to cry before being beheaded.”

“That’s what I do not want, the disparity between the importance of the criminals and the attention given to the victims,” he added.

Mr. Duterte also ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to intensify efforts to save Filipino overseas workers and the youth who fall into the hands of illegal recruiters.

The Chief Executive ordered DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista, a former Army general, to take the necessary steps to go after illegal recruiters and put them to justice.

“I used the word ‘general’ because I am sending him a message now that you have to do more. Since you are a military man, then I hope you can come up with a structure — a bigger one to go after this recruitment. And so goes for the Department of Labor and everybody,” the President said in his speech.

“My orders are really to get them. You should know where to fish for them. And return them to the water because they are fish,” he added.

In his speech, the President also talked about slavery perpetrated by some Arab countries where many Filipinas, even the young ones, have been victimized.

He said this is true in the case of three Filipinas whose fathers and mothers went to his house in Davao City when he was still a mayor asking for help after their daughters were recruited to the Middle East in hopes of earning good money there. But instead they were sold and became slaves.

The President said despite efforts to locate the three, this all went futile. He added the three have not yet been found.

“You know, what I’m talking about is slavery. And to think that there are three young Filipinas who went abroad with falsified documents and now we don’t know where they are,” the President said.

“Let me be very clear. I’m talking about some of the Arab practices and their culture. I was talking to a military man and he said, ‘You might want to put on notice and tell it to your countrymen that slavery is still allowed here. And you know a slave is a slave,’” according to the President.

The President said there are some Arab tribes who work to death some of the Filipinas hired as maids.

“They work to death every day. I cannot make any sweeping statement because there are good Arabs also, educated ones,” the President said.

He said because of the abuses suffered by some Filipina overseas Filipino workers, they commit suicide.

“And that’s the reason why some of our countrymen just jump out of the window. The highest rate of foreign works nagsu-suicide. They cannot just endure maybe the human degradation,” the President said.