The US leader also said he did not it take personally when President Duterte called him “son of a whore”.
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Duterte said he thinks this was “the most telling words” that he uttered in the just concluded summit of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and ASEAN dialogue partners in Vientiane, Laos.
“Ang sinabi ko, huwag akong bastusin”, Duterte said, reacting to information that human rights and alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines might be tackled during his meeting with Obama.
After the flap over Duterte’s earlier remarks, he and Obama met briefly on the sidelines of the Laos meetings and shook hands.
His outburst was prompted by USA assertions that Obama planned to raise the issue of Duterte’s war on crime that has claimed 3,000 lives in just over two months.
“I realize this raises tensions”, Obama said as he met with ASEAN leader, referring to a recent global arbitration ruling against China on the maritime dispute. I was waiting for Obama to respond. I said I never made the statement.
Obama and Duterte entered the dinner venue separately after the other Asean State Leaders, and they were seated far apart and did not interact with each other during the dinner that lasted an hour and 20 minutes. You must be respectful.
It is the last of 10 trips Mr Obama paid as president to Asia, where Mr Obama lived as a youngster with his mother in Indonesia. You must not just throw away questions.
Obama was also asked to respond to Trump’s comment in a televised forum that Vladimir Putin is a stronger leader for Russian Federation than he’s been for the United States. “Putang Ina, I will swear at you at that forum”, he added, using the Tagalog phrase for “son of a bitch”.
The incident happened after Duterte dropped his prepared speech at the East Asia Summit and instead talked about human rights violations committed by American colonizers against the Moros in Mindanao a century ago.
Mr Duterte and Mr Obama have traded blows in a bruising diplomatic bust-up this week, culminating in a stand-off at an Asian summit over the crackdown in the Philippines that has left 3,000 dead.
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On the day he was sworn into office, June 30, Duterte urged people living in a Manila slum to kill drug addicts in their community.
