THE UNITED States sought to ease tensions brought about by the controversial tirade of President Rodrigo Duterte against US President Barack Obama, with a White House official insisting that relations between Manila and Washington remain “rock solid”.
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Philippine Foreign Secretary Pefecto Yasay told reporters: “I am confirming that they met”. “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”, said Clinton, who as secretary of State was an architect of Obama’s policy of emphasizing the importance of the Asia-Pacific to USA interests in the face of a rising China.
However, Obama cancelled the meeting after Duterte warned him and other leaders against questioning his bloody anti-drug campaign with the words “son of a bitch”.
Alan Cayetano, who was Duterte’s vice-presidential running mate in this year’s election, described the atmosphere as “warm and cordial”, while a White House official said “the exchange consisted of pleasantries between the two”.
“They met at the holding room”.
“It all springs from the fact that the relationship between the Philippines and the United States is firm, very strong”, Yasay said. “And I’m very happy that it happened”. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since he took office June 30.
In a statement he issued on Tuesday, Mr Duterte said: “All the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress”.
In a terse statement, the White House said only that “Obama had a brief discussion with President Duterte before the ASEAN Gala Dinner in the leaders’ hold space”. “You must be respectful”.
A Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Charles Joe, also said Obama and Duterte met in the holding room.
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Mr Obama and Mr Duterte entered the dinner venue separately, and were seated far apart and did not interact with each other during the dinner, which lasted an hour and 20 minutes.
