Navy Seaman Semajia Marshal heaves a mooring line aboard the USS Antietam in Manila, Philippines, June 26, 2018, while the guided missile cruiser is on patrol supporting security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte points to photographers during an awarding ceremony for outstanding government workers, at the Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ezra Acayan/File Photo MANILA: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has told a UN human rights expert who said the country's judicial independence was under threat to 'go to hell', warning against interference in domestic affairs.

MANILA, Philippines: The unprecedented expulsion of the Philippine chief justice after the president lambasted her in public is an attack on judicial independence that could imperil the country's democracy, a U.N. expert warned. U.N. Rapporteur Diego Garcia-Sayan, who looks into threats to the independence of judges and lawyers worldwide, said he has sent questions to the Philippine government about the circumstances leading to the May 11 ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno from the high court and expects a response within 60 days.

U.S. State Secretary Rex Tillerson gestures before the 10th Lower Mekong Initiative Ministerial Meeting, part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in Manila, Philippines, Sunday Aug. 6, 2017. Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov, center, links arms with Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers and their representatives as they take part in the ASEAN-Russia Ministerial meeting in the 50th ASEAN Regional Forum in suburban Pasay city southeast of Manila, Philippines Sunday, Aug. 6, 2017.