Wednesday’s informal meeting took place before an Asean summit gala dinner.
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“I’m very happy that it happened”, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay said of the short meeting.
The awkwardness continued days later when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called Obama a “son of a bitch” and warned Obama not to challenge him in their planned meeting in Laos. “We have to talk [about] the full spectrum of the human rights”, the source quoted Duterte as saying, as the Philippine president reportedly “shocked” some people in the room.
He was also to call for the “full respect of legal and diplomatic processes” in solving disputes after Manila won an arbitration ruling July 12 that found Beijing’s territorial claims over the South China Sea had no legal basis.
Obama’s remarks came at the end of a grueling nine-day trip that took the him to Laos and China following USA stops in Nevada, Hawaii and Midway Atoll, a US -controlled coral reef in the Pacific Ocean.
Ireneo Fidel Cornista, Philippine Liason Offi cer to Brunei and a member of the presidential protocol team, told journalists that Duterte’s absence at the UN-Asean summit was “not intentional” and was only caused by delays in the Asean-China meeting.
Later in the speech, Obama said he believes that “nations are stronger and more successful when they uphold human rights”.
Through the pictures, Najib said Duterte questioned the human rights bandied about by the United States while numerous people in Philippine were killed by the USA army. Duterte arrived later for the East Asia Summit, which included leaders from Asia and the U.S. “Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum”, Duterte told reporters shortly before flying to Laos.
Duterte, a former crime-busting mayor of southern Davao city, won the presidency in May promising to suppress crime and wipe out drugs and drug dealers.
Obama initially responded by calling Mr. Duterte a “colorful guy”, but then called off the meeting after the global media reported heavily on the issue.
“Had a pleasant chat with President Barack Obama at the Gala Dinner in conjunction with Asean and Related Summits in Laos”. Yasay stood as Duterte’s alternate in the photo session.
During his final press conference at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Obama was asked whether he would “defend” his legacy following Trump’s these remarks.
“I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony…”
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Obama said shortly afterward that he did plan to discuss his concerns about Duterte’s record on human rights, a subject he nearly always broaches with other world leaders.
