A White House official said that Obama had a “brief discussion” with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ahead of a gala dinner in the Lao capital marking the beginning of the yearly ASEAN summit.
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“I expect to work very hard over the next four and a half months”, he said.
Obama’s remarks came at the end of a grueling nine-day trip that took him to Laos and China following US stops in Nevada, Hawaii and Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
Duterte was likely keen to clear the air after publicly scoffing earlier this week at suggestions that Obama would raise the issue of extrajudicial killings during their planned meeting.
Obama, who had described Duterte as a “colorful guy” when he was told about the slur against him while he was still in China for the G20 Summit, said on Thursday that using the “phrase” – a Filipino expletive – which he did not mention seems to be Duterte’s habit.
“I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony”, he said.
They met for the first time at the White House in September 2014 when Mr. Modi travelled to Washington DC at the invitation of Mr. Obama.
Wednesday’s informal meeting took place before an Asean summit gala dinner.
President Duterte, known for his controversial remarks, had previously called US Secretary of State John Kerry “crazy” and referred to Pope Francis as the “son of a whore“.
US President Barack Obama warned today an global tribunal’s ruling that China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis was “binding”, after Beijing vowed to ignore the verdict.
Separately, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo said Tuesday that the USA had agreed to provide two C-23 Sherpa aircraft though its Excess Defense Articles program for delivery in December-the latest in a series of recent equipment transfers. He said he just wants to make sure that if he has a meeting with President Duterte, “it will be actually productive and we’re getting something done”.
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Among other things, the two leaders discussed energy cooperation and the Paris climate change pact, and reviewed the progress on Indo-US collaboration in nuclear energy, solar energy and innovation. “Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum”, Mr Duterte said, apparently in reference to the U.S. president. “But I can tell you from the interactions I have had over the last eight or nine days with foreign leaders that this is serious business”.
