(Editor’s Note: The news report carries some words which may offend several readers)
WASHINGTON – United States President Barack Obama Tuesday cancelled his scheduled meeting with Philippines’ President Rodrigo Duterte after the latter called him “son of a bitch.”
The development surfaced as the Southeast Asian leaders, including Barack Obama, have reached Laos for annual ASEAN summits.
According to White House spokesman Ned Price, Obama will now hold meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday instead of President Rodrigo Duterte. North Korea’s recent missile launch is expected to remain the top agenda of the meeting.
Meanwhile, a statement released by the Filipino Foreign Office said that President Rodrigo Duterte deeply regretted comments about President Brack Obama which led to the cancellation of a meeting between the two leaders.
Earlier on Monday, Philippines’ president called Barack Obama a “son of a whore” as he lambasted at US leader for lecturing him on human rights when they meet in Laos.
Rodrigo Duterte warned the US president to stay away from the subject of extra-judicial killings in his country’s brutal drug war when they meet, adding that Obama “must be respectful.”
“You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum, we will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me,” he went on to say.
On the occasion, Duterte also blamed the US for triggering the unrest on the southern Philippines Island of Mindanao.
He added: “Look at the human rights of America along that line. The way they treat the migrants there.”
“Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people,” Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday. “Son of a whore, I will swear at you.”
“More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue,” he said.
Following the insulting statement, a White House statement had said that Obama did not plan to pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines.
