A White House official said that Obama had a “brief discussion” with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ahead of a gala dinner in the Lao capital marking the beginning of the yearly ASEAN summit. This is disconcerting - not because of Duterte’s insult, but because of his policies, which have greatly alarmed human rights advocates. “I think they ironed out their differences”, DFA spokesman Charles Jose said, adding that there will be another opportunity for Duterte and Obama to talk during the US-Asean meeting on Thursday.
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The encounter took place just before a dinner during a summit of regional leaders in Laos, officials indicated.
“You must be respectful”.
But the White House scrapped the sit-down after Duterte called Obama a “son of a bitch” and vowed to swear at him if he brought up his government’s use of extrajudicial killings in its war on drugs.
There was no immediate confirmation from the White House regarding the meeting. -Philippine relationship remains intact. About 20,000 Lao people have been killed or injured by UXO and more than 76,000 Cambodian people have been killed or injured by UXO and landmines.
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. This lack of oversight, and endorsement of violent lawlessness, bodes ill for the duration of Duterte’s tenure.
The head of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) has blasted a decision by the United States to grant $90 million in aid to Laos for clearing its unexploded ordnance (UXO).
Obama himself seemed equally unconcerned.
“I don’t know the details but that was what was discussed”, Jose said.
“It all springs from the fact that the relationship between the Philippines and the United States is firm, very strong”, Yasay said.
Mr. Ratana told Khmer Times that from 2005, the USA granted about $1.5-2 million in aid directly to CMAC per year, but that increased to about $5-6 million including aid provided to NGOs working on landmine and UXO clearance.
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He would depart for the US via Yokota, Japan for fuelling, soon after his news conference. This has prompted stronger bonds with China’s Southeast Asian neighbors, like the Philippines, many of whom are equally concerned about China’s growing influence.
