Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to personally tear apart and eat Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants, in a bloodthirsty vow of revenge for deadly attacks. It’s what else he’s thinking.
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After Rodrigo Duterte’s speech on Monday, the White House canceled President Obama’s meeting with the Philippine president in Laos on Tuesday.
Obama said that he expects the US and the Philippines to maintain close relations. And our allies and partners are collaborating more with each other as well.
He made the remarks in response to comments by Obama’s aides that the U.S. president would raise concerns about the Philippine war on crime when the pair met in Laos. “The US is now part of the East Asia Summit, and together we’ve made it the leading forum in the region for addressing political and security challenges, including maritime security”, he said.
The pair had been due to meet in the Lao capital of Vientiane at a gathering organised by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
He’s known as “The Rock” and not just because of his hard line stance and immovable position when it comes to his country’s war on drugs.
“Can you believe it’s only been two months into the Duterte presidency?” the final page reads.
“I always want to make sure if I’m having a meeting that it’s productive and we’re getting something done”.
The new Philippines president did not just obliterate the rules of behavior of the worldwide leader’s club with his remarks. The president should understand that. Hence the meeting’s cancellation.
He has defended the killings, saying he is following the will of those who elected him.
Obama is only the latest victim of Duterte’s foul tongue.
The flap over Duterte’s remarks started when a reporter asked him how he meant to explain the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers to Obama.
But this was not the first time he’s directed offensive language at American officials.
He has previously called the pope a “son of a whore” and the United States ambassador a “gay son of whore”.
Duterte has already stated that, in his opinion, summary execution of criminals is the most efficient way of reducing drug traffic and kidnappings. That’s because it can never be quite sure what he will do next. “It was like, my God, this is my president”, she said. “It is that uncertainty that is causing the concern”.
Duterte’s insults may seem trivial, but when they lead to the cancellation of high-level U.S.
On Tuesday, Duterte expressed regret over the remarks, but the damage was done.
“We are entering the Post-American era where the Unites States is not the only superpower but we also have China, Japan and other important countries around the world”, Heydarian said. The United States claimed the archipelago from Spain following a war in 1898, so sovereignty issues are particularly acute.
Now, with China pressing its claims to most of the South China Sea, some – but not all – want USA forces back.
The Philippines has been central in this effort due to an worldwide court case it brought and won against Beijing.
Another incident was illegal fishing in the Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. More than 2,000 people have been killed since June 30, when he took office after winning election on a promise to fight crime and corruption. The tall promise was embraced by crime-weary Filipinos but abhorred by opponents and rights groups as a risky expansion of his rights record in Davao, where he was linked to killings with his tacit endorsements of vigilante extermination of alleged drug dealers by motorcycle-riding death squads. “But we are concerned about the upwards of 15,000 survivors around the country that are still in need of support”.
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While the direction of US-Asia policy remains in doubt in the new administration, the next White House will face a delicate task in managing Duterte.
