Hours before arriving in Laos, Duterte told Philippine reporters he wouldn’t accept questions from Obama about extrajudicial killings that have occurred during his crackdown on suspected drug dealers and users.
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Philippine Foreign Secretary Pefecto Yasay told The Associated Press that the leaders had met.
President Obama reportedly met Wednesday with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after an initial meeting was scrapped when the southeast Asian leader called him a “son of a bitch”.
Trump said the progress of USA military generals had been stymied, or “reduced to rubble” with Obama as commander-in-chief and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as his first secretary of state.
Duterte’s choice of words seemed to be “a habit”, Obama added.
The White House initially called Mr Duterte’s comments “vulgar”, but speaking to reporters at the conclusion of his visit to the ASEAN Summit in Laos on Thursday, Obama said he didn’t take his remark personally.
In a tirade before the Laos summit, Duterte insulted U.S. President Barack Obama and the White House responded by cancelling a two-way meeting. Duterte had said he’d potentially swear at and challenge his USA counterpart if Obama questioned him over his violent war against illegal drugs that has seen more than 2,400 suspects killed since the Philippine leader came to power.
The spat with Duterte stolen attention away form Obama’s final trip to Asia as president, in which he hoped to cement his administration’s effort to “rebalance” US foreign policy toward the region.
However, during the ASEAN dinner, the two leaders were seen having a brief chat to clear the air, according to Manila, while Washington termed it as an exchange of formal pleasantries.
“The media from all over the world, including from the Philippines, are up in excitement as each await the event where the two leaders will possibly say something positive”, the statement from the presidential palace said.
Mr. Duterte was elected to office in a landslide this year after pledging to kill 100,000 people in an unprecedented war on crime. You must be respectful.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte steps out of his limousine upon arrival at Merdeka Palace to meet Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016.
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The traditionally strong ties between the United States and the Philippines have been “strained by language from Philippine leaders” which is also creating “investor concern”, the statement said.
