“The United States is more deeply engaged across the Asia-Pacific than we have been in decades”, Obama said.
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Even though Duterte’s latest comment does not amount to an apology, the expression of regret is unusual for the tough-talking former mayor, who is unapologetic about his manner of speech and liberally peppers casual statements with profanities such as “son of a bitch” and “son of a whore”. “Putang ina (‘son of a bitch’ in Tagalog) I will swear at you in that forum”, Duterte said on Monday while referring to Obama. “We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries”, said the statement.
“President Duterte, I would like to congratulate you on assuming the Office of President of the Republic of the Philippines”. Calling Duterte “a colourful guy”, Obama said he was asking his staff to find out whether a meeting would be useful.
Obama’s outreach to those regional powers hit a snag just as he arrived in the region from China.
Duterte, whose antics have repeatedly made headlines since he took office two months ago, is making his worldwide debut at a pair of summits this week in Vientiane, Laos. Instead, he’ll will meet with South Korean President Park Geun Hye, Price said in a statement. Everybody has a awful record of extrajudicial killing. Do not just throw away questions and statements.
He has kept his promise since his swearing-in, rounding up and killing more than eighteen hundred people-drug dealers, drug users, and some in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I always want to make sure if I’m having a meeting that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done”, he told reporters.
The meetings will be attended by Obama plus leaders from South-east Asian nations, Russia, China and Japan. No matter, the actual translation, the White House canceled the bilateral meeting with Duterte.
Efforts to find the bombs will be aided by the Pentagon, which will supply records of where they were dropped.
“We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher have surrendered or [been] put behind bars or below the ground if they so wish”, he said.
Also today, in the wake of another missile launch, Obama vowed to work with the United Nations to tighten sanctions against North Korea, but added that the US was still open to dialogue if the government changes its course.
Duterte insisted he would not take orders from the USA, a former colonial ruler of the Philippines, and did not care about how he was perceived. Duterte has since been nicknamed the “Punisher”, due to his punitive approach to the drug trade and drug offenders.
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He has promised medals to any member of the public who shoots a drug dealer, and threatened to take the country out of the United Nations after facing criticism from the organisation over the human rights implications of his anti-crime campaign.
