US President Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who had earlier called him a “son of a whore”.
Duterte was responding to the US president’s promise to raise the issue of drug-related extra-judicial killings in the Philippines at their meeting.
The latest Duterte outburst came on Monday before a planned meeting between the leaders at a regional summit in Laos.
Obama responded to the outburst by cancelling the talks, which prompted a Duterte to offer a qualified expression of regret.
“While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US president,” a statement released by Duterte said.
The 71-year-old former prosecutor was referring to his remarks on Monday, when he warned he would not be lectured by Obama over concerns about war on drug crime in the Philippines.
“You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum,” Duterte told reporters when asked about his message for Obama.
Duterte, who has quickly earned a global reputation for his jibes, then used typically colourful language to describe their planned meeting if rights issues came up.
“We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me,” he said.
Duterte’s about-turn on Tuesday said both sides would hold face-to-face talks “at a later date”.
“Our primary intention is to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with all nations especially the US with which we have a longstanding partnership,” Duterte’s statement said.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs added Duterte had “a deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations”.
Source: Agencies
