Mr. Duterte, whose debut on the worldwide stage was marred by his expletive-laden remarks against Obama before flying to Laos on Monday, also skipped the Asean leaders’ meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday night.
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But on Thursday morning, Duterte was absent from meetings that Southeast Asian leaders held with Obama and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The tough-talking president has also blasted United Nations -appointed human rights experts and rights watchdogs who have expressed concerns over the extrajudicial killings of more than 2,800 suspected drug dealers and users since Duterte took office.
After nine days of foreign travel and meetings with diplomatic leaders around the world, Obama stated that being president was “serious business”.
“I expect to work very hard over the next four and a half months”, he said.
President Barack Obama says a determination to defeat communism in Southeast Asia may have led USA policymakers to not think carefully enough about the implications of their decisions. Duterte also blamed the United States for the crisis in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.
As an example of progress on his trip, Obama pointed to discussions with Southeast Asian leaders about disputes over China’s territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
Mr Obama and Mr Duterte are said to have entered the dinner venue separately at the summit in Laos and did not interact with each other during the event, which lasted one hour and 20 minutes.
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 US leader raised concerns over Duterte’s bloody crackdown on illegal drugs. “You must be respectful”.
Notorious for his tirades and for cursing during interviews and speeches, he later expressed regret for offending Obama.
Obama spoke at a news conference after he attended a pair of regional summits in Laos. “Son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum”, he said.
The pool report also noted that Duterte’s spokesman did not confirm or deny reports that Duterte’s daughter recently suffered a miscarriage, which also could have contributed to his absence from the meetings.
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President Barack Obama exchanged “pleasantries” with his Philippines counterpart on Wednesday following an ugly outburst earlier this week that led to a cancellation of formal talks between the two leaders, CNN writes.
