Obama had been set to meet Duterte for the first time, but the White House canceled the bilateral meeting following the insult. He now “regrets” that calling Obama “son of a whore” caused so much controversy. “He expressed his deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations”.
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In August, he said the USA ambassador to the Philippines was “gay” and the “son of a whore” because the diplomat criticized Duterte’s suggestion he would have liked to have been the first to rape a missionary who was gang raped and killed in the president’s hometown of Davao in the 1980s. And true enough, Duterte’s main message for the USA leader on Monday seemed to be that the Philippines wouldn’t put up with any criticism, from the United States or any foreign power.
The White House announced later on Monday that there will be no meeting. He urged a full implementation of sanctions against North Korea, adding that the missile test demonstrated the threat that Pyongyang posed.
“The wounds - a missing leg or arm - last a lifetime”, Obama said to the people of Laos at a cultural hall in Vientiane. He said Washington needed to maintain a sense of urgency within the global community on sanctions against Pyongyang.
In the speech, he also warned Obama not to challenge him over extra-judicial killings in the Philippines, ahead of a regional summit in Laos.
When Duterte arrived in Laos that night, his tone had changed.
Duterte swept to power in May on promises to wipe out crime and corruption within six months, pledging to wage a war on drug dealers and crush widespread addiction to methamphetamines in the country of 100 million.
Duterte has poured scorn on critics of his uncompromising campaign, usually larding it with curses.
Duterte has previously cursed Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
He has accused a senator heading an inquiry into the killings of getting payoffs from drug lords. Some suspect Beijing is starting reclamation work on the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
China rejects those accusations and accuses the United States of ratcheting up tensions unnecessarily. He’s visited the country twice in his second term, and announced on a stop there in November the return of a US military presence at a critical naval base on the South China Sea.
On Wednesday the Philippines released photos to back its claims. At issue are the estimated 2,400 killings committed by police and vigilantes since Duterte was inaugurated June 30, according to National Police figures.
Basically, Duterte went off on our prez because he heard Obama was going to lecture him about his controversial war on drugs. “Nobody but nobody. You must be respectful”. “Do not just throw questions”, Duterte said. I am no American puppet. During the election campaign earlier this year Duterte attracted widespread criticism for saying he had wanted to rape a “beautiful” Australian missionary who had been sexually assaulted and murdered in a Philippine prison riot. “And I think it’s very important that we have a relationship, but there has to be a certain level of respect that is expected on both sides”, Clinton said.
Last week, Duterte said he was ready to defend his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, which has sparked concern from the US and other countries.
First, this is about the drug war, not Duterte’s language.
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The president has also engaged in a war of words with the United Nations, threatening to withdraw from the worldwide agency, calling it “useless” and accusing it of failing to end war, hunger and terrorism. It’s certainly not every day that you hear a sitting president say the words “son of a whore”.
