International

Despite apology, Obama cancels meeting with Pilipino President

Published

8 years ago

September 6, 2016

The efforts of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines to appease US President Barack Obama after he called the incumbent US President a “son of a whore” has failed to yield any results with Obama cancelling a proposed meeting.

Duterte tried to apologise for his actions when he expressed “regret” after making derogatory remarks against Obama who in turn cancelled what would have been his first meeting with a Pilipino president.

Duterte described his American counterpart in vulgar terms after his supporters suggested that he will be questioned by the US president over a crime war in the Philippines that has claimed more than 2,400 lives in just over two months.

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“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 a news conference shortly before flying to Laos to attend a summit on Monday.

“We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me,” he said.

However, a statement released by the Philippine president on Tuesday expressed regret for the tirade against his US counterpart.

“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,” the statement said.

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