U.S.-Philippine Ties Strained Further: Obama Cancels Meeting With Duterte After Insult
The U.S.-Philippine ties are on rocky waters under the leadership of Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte as United States President Barack Obama cancels what should have been their first meeting after receiving insult from his Filipino counterpart.
A report from CNN revealed how the White House decided to cancel the meeting between Obama and Duterte after the latter threw insults at the former after learning about the American president’s plan to talk to him about the way he handles drug and criminality in the archipelago.
According to the report, Duterte scoffed at Obama after realizing that the American intends to lecture him about human rights regarding the alleged rampant extrajudicial killings that have been happening in the Philippines since the Davao-hailing leader took office.
“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,” he said, adding what can only be described as a downright insult to the American president.
“Son of a b***h, I will swear at you.”
“As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States. Why? Because they invaded this country and made us their subjugated people. Everybody has a terrible record of extrajudicial killing. Why make an issue about fighting crime?” he said.
He also pointed out how the U.S. human rights situation is no different from what the Philippines has right now, taking as an example the way the American government treats migrants.
According to Reuters, the meeting between the U.S. and Philippine leaders was officially canceled per an announcement a White House spokesperson on Tuesday.
Speaking with the press, Obama expressed his disappointment at how things turned out and explained why he had to cancel the meeting with the plain-spoken Philippine president which could have been the first time they talked face-to-face.
“I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting, that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done.”
“If and when we have a meeting, this is something that is going to be brought up,” he added, referring to the issue on extrajudicial killings.
Obama is on a meeting tour in Asia where new leaders have been chosen. Just before midnight on Monday, he landed in Vientiane in Laos for a landmark visit which marks the first one made by a sitting American President. There, he intends to address the United States’ legacy during the bombing in the Vietnam War.
After that, Obama was supposed to head straight for the Philippines to talk to the country’s new leader. But since that was canceled, the American president decided to meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye where they will talk about issues including North Korea’s latest missile tests.
Meanwhile, Duterte plans to continue his current course of action in combating crime in the country especially after Davao City– his hometown and proud holder of a “safest city” title– was victimized by a bombing of suspected Islamist groups.
Because of this, President Duterte opted to declare a “state of lawlessness” in the Philippines before he flew to Laos for the annual ASEAN Summit.
Sara Duterte, the Philippine president’s daughter and Davao City mayor, is offering 2 million pesos in exchange for the capture of the bombing culprits via an interview with local broadcaster ABS-CBN.
“I tapped funds from the city government — P1 million for information on the name and whereabouts of the suspect and another P1 million for whoever can deliver the person to us.”
As the archipelago remains in a “state of lawlessness,” the U.S.-Philippine ties are strained further with President Duterte maintaining his position to pursue the war on drugs.
[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
