About 900 people linked to drugs have been killed in police operations since July 1 and a further 1,500 have been classed as “deaths under investigation”, a term human rights activists in the Philippines say is a euphemism for extrajudicial killings. More than 2,000 people have been killed since June 30, when he took office after winning election on a promise to fight crime and corruption.
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He announced his plan to meet with survivors of the United States bombing of Laos, asserting that the US had a “moral obligation” to help them fix their country.
On Tuesday, he said he regrets that his words “came across as a personal attack on the US president”.
In a statement read by his spokesman, Duterte said his “strong comments” in response to questions by a reporter “elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the USA president”.
Duterte said last month he expected all ASEAN members to support the arbitration court’s ruling, but that the Philippines would not raise the issue in Laos.
However, the White House cancelled the bilateral meeting after Duterte tore into Obama with an obscenity.
Duterte is sometimes described as “the Trump of the East” due to his habit of making controversial remarks, so it seemed inevitable that the real Donald Trump would decide to weigh in.
However, diplomats say strains with longtime ally the Philippines could compound Washington’s difficulties in forging a united front with Southeast Asian partners on the geostrategic jostle with Beijing over the South China Sea.
– Crucial time – ================ The setback in US-Philippine relations comes at a crucial time in the region, with China seeking to cement control over the contested South China Sea.
Duterte had made the intemperate remarks Monday before flying to Laos, where he is attending a regional summit. “Today, I stand with you in acknowledging the suffering and sacrifices on all sides of that conflict”.
Duterte said last week that the Philippine coast guard has sighted Chinese barges at Scarborough, which he said could presage the transformation of the Chinese-held reef into another man-made island.
Obama is the first sitting USA president to set foot in the impoverished, landlocked country.
But by Tuesday, he had done a complete U-turn in the tone of his statement.
A statement from Manila’s Malacanang Palace said the meeting “has been mutually agreed upon to be moved to a later date”.
He has defended the killings, saying he is following the will of those who elected him.
In his typical foul-mouthed style, Duterte responded: “I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony”.
“You must be respectful, do not just throw questions”. Do not just throw questions.
Such a conversation, Duterte told reporters, would prompt him to curse at Obama, using a Filipino phrase “putang ina” which can mean “son of a bitch” or “son of a whore”. “We have long ceased to be a colony of the United States”, Duterte said, and then went on to refer to the USA leader in a Philippines dialect as a “mother-whore”.
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“Who is he (Obama) to confront me?”
