Duterte’s statement of regret was delivered on the sidelines of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Laos.
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Obama, who was in China for a Group of 20 meeting, departed Monday for Laos, becoming the first USA president to visit the nation.
“The issue of how we approach fighting crime and drug trafficking is a serious one for all of us”. The outreach is a core element of Obama’s attempt to shift US diplomatic and military resources away from the Middle East and into Asia in order to counter China’s dominance in the region and ensure a foothold in growing markets.
Duterte said Obama should not question him about extrajudicial killings, or, as he put it, “son of a bitch, I will swear at you” when they meet in Laos.
The heads of state of the Philippines and the United States have managed to iron out tensions after statements by President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier this week were read as a “personal attack on the US President”. “He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations”.
The White House says the US has contributed $100 million to the effort in the last 20 years.
Hours later, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the Tuesday meeting with Duterte had been canceled and that Obama would instead meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
As he headed to Laos, Obama professed to being undeterred by the unpredictable unfriendly global environment at the end of his presidency.
He announced on Tuesday that Washington would provide an additional $90 million over the next three years to help Laos, heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, clear unexploded ordnance, which has killed or wounded more than 20,000 people.
The two leaders were supposed to meet Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation summit and other meetings, which are being held in the Laotian capital of Vientiane from September 6-8.
“As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States. Why?”
The flap over Duterte’s remarks started when a reporter asked him how he intends to explain the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers to Obama.
Duterte has poured scorn previously on critics, usually larded with curses. He also dismissed criticism from the Catholic Church, human rights groups, politicians and the United Nations.
Duterte had previously also branded the United States ambassador to Manila a “son of a whore”, a term the acid-tongued former prosecutor commonly uses, and criticised the U.S. over its own track record of police killings.
Duterte likely had realized his folly by the time he arrived in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on Monday night. Philippines-China ties were strained under Duterte’s predecessors due to territorial conflicts in the South China Sea. He sought to address worries that United States’ new focus on Asia will leave smaller nations as pawns in a chess match between the USA and China.
An worldwide tribunal ruled in July that Beijing’s claims to the waters – through which $5 trillion in global shipping trade passes – had no legal basis.
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The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have competing claims to the strategically vital waters, but have watched China expand its presence by building artificial islands in key locations. Apparently addressing Obama, he added: “You must be respectful”.
