The statement from the Philippines government states: “he regrets that his remarks to the press have caused much controversy”.
Advertisement
At a news conference in China after the G20 summit, Obama joked in response, “He’s a colorful guy…”
It seems that whenever recently elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has the chance to speak publicly, he just can’t suppress his overwhelming desire to call other world leaders as “sons of bitches”.
The Philippines is a former US colony. “You must be respectful”.
“The areas that we believe we have robust, strong cooperation with them, we are not going to just simply throw that aside”. “Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum”, Duterte was quoted as saying by the Agence France-Presse. Mr Obama had said he planned to raise the issue in his first meeting with Mr Duterte, but the Philippines leader insisted he was only listening to his own country’s people.
He has previously called the pope a “son of a whore” and the US ambassador a “gay son of whore”.
He had been scheduled to meet Obama separately in Laos, but Obama indicated he had second thoughts, and the White House announced that the meeting had been cancelled. “And I think it’s very important that we have a relationship, but there has to be a certain level of respect that is expected on both sides”, Clinton said.
Obama said the USA had a moral obligation to assist in safely removing the threat of UXO, a “painful legacy of war” that continued to shatter lives in Laos. “But we will always assert the need to have due process and to engage that fight against drugs in a way that’s consistent with basic global norms”.
First, this is about the drug war, not Duterte’s language.
Still, Duterte has promised to protect police from prosecution if they are charged over the deaths and insisted human rights can not get in the way of his war.
“The PNP (Philippines National Police) continues to investigate situations involving vigilante killings and operational aspects where deaths are reported”.
There has been popular support for Duterte’s campaign but the killings have brought expressions of concern from the United States, a close Philippine ally, and the United Nations. Now, because he cursed out Obama’s mother, he doesn’t have to; instead of apologizing for overseeing executions, he can say sorry for his dirty mouth.
On Monday, Duterte lashed out at the United States for raising questions about a “drug war” that has killed 2,400 Filipinos. Obama is the first sitting USA president to visit the Southeast Asian country. Philippines-China ties were strained under Duterte’s predecessors due to territorial conflicts in the South China Sea.
Now, with China pressing its claims to most of the South China Sea, some – but not all – want US forces back.
Advertisement
Duterte is scrambling to smooth things over with the US, a longtime ally. “They will pay. When the time comes, I will eat you in front of people”, he said Monday.
