MANILA—He may be cold towards Iceland, but President Rodrigo Duterte said severing ties with the Nordic country could affect some 2,000 Filipinos working there.

"I'm seriously considering it might affect the relations between our citizens and the host country," he said Wednesday in Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's TV show.

"They might not like the way we behave towards them and so it would prompt them to take measures. I hope they would not do it, but I would not also take it sitting down," he added.

Iceland filed a resolution before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that sought a thorough review of the Philippines' human rights situation, which includes allegations of extrajudicial killings from Duterte's drug war.

The resolution was adopted last week after 18 countries voted yes, 14 said no and 15 abstained from the poll held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Duterte criticized Iceland for taking a special interest in the Philippines.

"Iceland surprises me. It's always been a country complaining of extrajudicial killing and for a country who does not have a night, it's always like 4 o'clock in the afternoon all day long, wala silang problema," he said.

"Kung mauhaw ang tao, maraming ice, so they don't have a water problem. As far as their streets, it's safe because wala silang full night na darkness," he claimed.