President Rodrigo Roa Duterte wears a special attire prepared for him as he attends a gala dinner hosted by the Prime Minister of Lao People’s Democratic Republic in honor of the leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the heads of state/government from the East Asia Summit (EAS), the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, and delegates to the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, on September 7, 2016.
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In subsequent years, Duterte accused Washington of hypocrisy for criticizing other countries on human rights in light of the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath.
After Obama canceled the meeting, Duterte retreated, telling journalists that he regretted his words.
“You must be respectful”. Do not just throw away questions and statements.
Even Donald Trump – the champion of birther rumors who may disparage President Barack Obama as much as Hillary Clinton – seemed insulted after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte recently called Obama a “son of a b*tch”.
Since he took office, more than 1,900 people have died, including at least 700 in police operations.
While some of these deaths have been claimed by the Philippine National Police (PNP), the majority have been linked to vigilantes, many of them empowered by Duterte’s calls for aggressive action against anyone involved in the drug trade.
The Abu Sayyaf Group, a Philippine-based, Islamic State-affiliated terrorist organization, is believed responsible for the incident, which also left 71 injured. A statement said that Obama was concerned whether the meeting, if it pushed through, could be productive. I can’t say how long they met.
The unpredictable new man in charge in Manila introduces an unwelcome element to an already tense region and is casting a late second-term cloud over painstaking effort by Obama to intensify relations between the allies. The basis for this relationship is historical and both leaders realize this. A new security deal signed in March will allow for an even more heightened US military presence throughout the Philippines, something that comes at a critical moment. Shortly before he left office, Aquino agreed to allow US forces access to five Philippine military bases – opening the way to what would be the most significant American military deployment in the Southeast Asian nation since the USA was forced to close its own military bases there a quarter-century ago.
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“There has been a lot of concern primarily because I don’t think there is a lot of understanding of the Philippine President or any way to predict what he is going to do”, said Rodger Baker, vice president of strategic analysis at Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence company.
