VIENTIANE, Laos- President Duterte flew in here Monday night aboard a chartered Philippine Airlines flight from Davao City to attend the 28th and 29th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summits. Do not just throw questions.
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More than 2,400 suspected drug traffickers and users have been executed since Mr Duterte launched a war on drugs after taking office at the end of June.
Duterte said Obama should not question him about extrajudicial killings, or, as he put it, “son of a bitch, I will swear at you” when they meet in Laos.
Duterte made the statement ahead of his possible meeting with Obama on the sidelines of the Asean summits.
“I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting that it’s actually productive, and that we’re getting something done”, Obama said.
In his departure speech at Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao, Mr. Duterte said he would urge Asean leaders to make the region drug-free “consistent with the Philippines’ cornerstone programs”.
Mr Duterte also said his country had not received an apology for alleged misdeeds committed during the USA colonisation of the Philippines in the last century. But he insisted that he would not shy away from raising concerns about the way the issue was being handled under the new administration.
Obama noted that, while the fight against drugs was tough, the United States would always assert the need for due process and to carry out the campaign in a way that is consistent with basic global norms.
He added: “Look at the human rights of America along that line. And my expectation, my hope is that it could be dealt with constructively”.
“I don’t give a shit about anybody observing my behaviour”, he said.
He then said that he would only respond to Obama’s question if the latter is able to apologize over the deaths of the Moro people.
“Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue”.
The President, whose aggressive war on drugs had come under severe criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups, added he will not tolerate other heads of state or governments in Laos commenting on his campaign.
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Duterte has quickly earned a reputation for making offensive comments about his critics, or others he does not like.
