The diplomatic source said Duterte ignored the prepared speech, but Philippine officials insist he did mention the South China Sea dispute during his intervention.
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took a thinly veiled dig at the United States on Thursday, complaining that colonizers who killed many Filipinos are now raising human rights concerns with him.
Yasay declined to elaborate on what Duterte said at the East Asia meeting but the President, during a speech before the Filipino community in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday, confirmed that he did talk about the bloody USA pacification campaign against the Moros.
We admire how Barack skipped over the issue on the swear words Pres. Duterte uses in his speech and got down to the problem of how innocent lives are at stake with all the lawlessness going about.
Duterte is known to be sharply at odds with Obama over whether the USA has the right to meddle in the Philippines’ crime-fighting strategy. If he doesn’t like a lecture on human rights, he means it.
Th delegate described the atmosphere in the room as “quiet and shocked”.
An Indonesian diplomat said Duterte held up a picture of Filipinos killed in colonial times to underscore his point.
The meeting took place during Obama’s visit to Laos for a regional summit, attended by Duterte and other regional leaders as well. You must be respectful.
Duterte delivered the insult in his native Tagalog tongue, just as he had with the statement about Obama, which he now claims he never made. “Son of a w****, I will curse you in that forum”, Duterte told reporters before flying to Laos.
Earlier in the year, Ban Ki-Moon condemned the extrajudicial killings under Duterte, noting that they were “illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms”.
I am not ready to concede, Obama said, adding that his administration was making progress in reducing the prisons population.
Obama also brought attention to Guantanamo Bay, saying that aides are “working diligently” to reduce the prisoner population which has already shrunk from hundreds to about 60 prisoners.
They met briefly on Wednesday night before a leaders’ dinner but merely exchanged “pleasantries”, according to the White House. Obama said during the heat of an election “outrageous becomes normalized and people start thinking we should begin grading on a curve”.
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Duterte swept to power in May on promises to wipe out crime and corruption within six months, pledging to wage a war on drug dealers and crush widespread addiction in a country of 100 million. Duterte has bristled at criticism from overseas of his war on drugs, in which more than 2,400 people have been killed since he became president two months ago.
