“Time will tell whether President Duterte steps back from this episode and realizes he needs to recalibrate his choice of words in engaging USA leaders”, said Amy Searight, a former senior Pentagon official now at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
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Duterte missed a scheduled one-on-one with Obama, who postponed the meeting after the brash Philippine leader called him a “son of a bitch” in a pre-departure speech and threatened to swear at him if the USA leader raised concerns over Duterte’s bloody crackdown on illegal drugs.
The consensus was reached after Premier Li Keqiang held a summit on Wednesday with leaders from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states.
Another diplomat described the speech as “normal Duterte”.
“It all springs from the fact that the relationship between the Philippines and the United States is firm, very strong”.
“As despicable as these (crime) networks may be and as much damage as they do, it is important from our perspective to make sure that we do it the right way”, Obama told reporters when asked about his conversation with Duterte on the sidelines of Laos meetings.
Barack Obama briefly met with Philippine leader Rodri days after the Philippine leader branded the US President a “son of a whore”.
“Because the consequences of when you do it the wrong way are innocent people get hurt and you have a bunch of unintended consequences that don’t solve the problem”.
“You must be respectful”. Do not just throw questions.
“I don’t take these comments personally because it seems this is a phrase he’s used repeatedly, including directly at the pope and others, so I think it seems to be a habit”, Obama said Thursday.
Obama was speaking just before boarding Air Force One for a long return journey to Washington.
The Philippines voiced regret for Duterte’s comments after Obama canceled a formal bilateral meeting.
Duterte who came to power with a promise to end the drug crisis in the country had ordered police kill all drug peddlers.
Duterte has also repeatedly 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. More than 2,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since he took office on June 30.
The UN special rapporteur on summary executions has warned incitement to kill is a crime under global law.
However Duterte has remained unrepentant.
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They noted how no less than Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had told Duterte he was very popular in Japan; and how many people at the ASEAN events jostled to have their “selfies” with the acid-tongued president.
