Officials from both countries said there would be no formal meeting rescheduled in Laos but a short conversation between the two presidents was possible.
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He made the remarks in response to comments by Obama’s aides that the USA president would raise concerns about the Philippine war on crime when the pair met in Laos.
Also, in the wake of another missile launch, Mr. Obama vowed Tuesday to work with the United Nations to tighten sanctions against North Korea, but added that the USA was still open to dialogue if the government changes course.
Notorious for his tirades and for cursing during interviews and speeches, he later expressed regret for offending Obama.
Tensions between the United States and the Philippines, its former colony, are unusual at high-level meetings.
Manila hopes that Duterte and Obama can meet informally before the meeting in Vientiane ends.
Asked how the meeting with Duterte and Obama might go down, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters: “It’s hard to speculate, but certainly they will have their drinks and food together”.
“F*** you, UN, you can’t even solve the Middle East carnage. couldn’t even lift a finger in Africa. shut up, all of you”. “So. people who live in glass houses should not” throw stones. “There’s a protocol for that”, Duterte said. The insult was made more egregious because of who the target was – President Barack Obama.
But by Tuesday, he had done a complete U-turn in the tone of his statement.
“We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions”, the statement released on Tuesday said.
Duterte was answering a reporter’s question about how he meant to explain the extrajudicial killings to Obama, before boarding a plane to Laos for the summit.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte occupied center stage on the eve of the summit Monday when he made comments about Obama that included a “son of a bitch” remark. I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. Nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. He indicated that a meeting with Obama could prove a testy affair, saying if the USA president questioned him “I will curse you in that forum”. He previously upset the United States by referring to the country’s ambassador as a “gay son of a whore”. But I want to tell him that there are many thousands of victims.
The Abu Sayyaf are a small band of Islamic militants based on remote southern islands of the mainly Catholic Philippines and are listed by the United States as a terrorist organisation.
The US announced on Tuesday it would provide an additional $90 million over the next three years to help Laos, heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, clear unexploded ordnance (UXO) that has killed or injured more than 20,000 people.
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Obama the first president to set foot in Laos while in office, lamented that many Americans remain unaware of the “painful legacy” left behind by a bombardment that claims lives and limbs to this day.
