“I said, “blow them up”.
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Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who accompanied Duterte in his trip, said that this was how the two presidents met informally in a holding room before attending a gala dinner at the ASEAN Summit.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stressed on Saturday that the Philippines will pursue an independent foreign policy “without any interference” from any country, reports China’s Xinhua news agency. “Check it out. Check it out”, Duterte recalled telling Obama in a holding room.
He made his narration during his speech on Friday afternoon in front of the Filipino community in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“He said that Obama responded: “‘My men will talk to you, ‘ and he replied ‘OK'”.
Duterte later said that he “regretted” the remarks and insisted that the Philippine expression “putang ina” is “an ordinary expression (used) by everyone”.
“In the light of the recent reporting on his swearing at US President Barack Obama and the aftermath, he said “…do not hesitate to attack me, criticise me if I do wrong in my job”.
Setting aside a prepared speech, Mr. Duterte spoke for more than five minutes about human rights and his campaign against drugs during the summit in the Lao capital of Vientiane, according to one Indonesian diplomat at the meeting.
Since gaining power in June, Mr Duterte has engaged in a bloody war on drugs, which has seen around 2,400 people killed by hit squads, drawing global criticism.
“I do not care about him”. Lawyer to lawyer, we are both lawyers anyway.I said I never made the statement.
“If the chase begins in Indonesia and continues in the worldwide waters, and inside Philippine waters, they can go ahead and blast them off”, Efe news quoted Duterte as saying while interacting with the Filipino community in the Indonesian capital.
Mr Obama shrugged off the comments, saying he didn’t take it personally and confirmed he shook Mr Duterte’s hands.
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Duterte has earlier cursed the pope and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
