Obama canceled a scheduled meeting on Tuesday with Duterte. Over 2,000 people have been killed in this crackdown till now.
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The apparent move may have saved Duterte some awkward small talk and Philippine officials later told the Associated Press said that Obama and Duterte did speak informally at the event.
A White House official said that the exchange between the two leaders mostly contained pleasantries.
Tensions between the United States and the Philippines, its former colony, are unusual at high-level meetings.
While the incident can thwart government to government ties in the short run, military relationship between the two treaty allies will remain unaffected.
Presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said Thursday that the throbbing headache would have made it hard for Duterte to concentrate amid the overwhelming barrage of summitry.
“He has to experience it”, he said. “I think it seems to be just a, you know, a habit, a way of speaking for him”.
On his final day in Asia, Obama met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose help Obama is seeking to galvanize further action on climate change, especially among developing countries.
US President Barack Obama has confirmed he met Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte for the first time, despite being called “a son of a whore”. “And I’m very happy that it happened”, Yasay said.
After the flap over Duterte’s earlier remarks, he and Obama met briefly on the sidelines of the Laos meetings and shook hands.
The Philippine president later said that he regretted that his comments “came across as a personal attack”. Obama said the partnership between the two countries should be consistent with the rule of law and global norms.
During a speech earlier, Obama said the US focuses on improving human rights in other nations when he travels overseas because it has learned that if you don’t respect all people or religions, then it results in conflict. “Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in the forum”, Duterte said, defending his right to wage a drug war which has ended thousands of lives. “If you do that, we will end up insulting each other”.
Yasay sought to characterize Wednesday’s meeting as proof the alliance was strong enough to withstand such hiccups.
The article says that the reason President Duterte lashed out was because he was reacting to a Filipino reporter’s questions during that press conference.
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Obama said that he wanted wait until he and Duterte could have “constructive, productive conversations”.
