Obama Cancels Meeting With Philippines Pres. Over ‘Son Of A Bitch’ Remark

US President Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who had earlier called him a “son of a whore”.

Mr 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 Philippine leader, known for his colourful language, has insulted prominent figures before, but this time it has had diplomatic consequences.

He has now said he regrets the remark.

“While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret that it came across as a personal attack on the US president,” a statement by his office said.

In the past, President Duterte has called Pope Francis the “son of a whore”, US Secretary of State John Kerry “crazy” and recently referred to the US ambassador to the Philippines a “gay son of a whore”.

Both he and President Obama are in Laos for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.

How the row escalated

Mr Obama, who flew to Laos after attending the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, China, had been set to raise concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines.

But speaking in Manila on Monday before he left for Laos, Mr Duterte bristled at the suggestion, saying the Philippines “has long ceased to be a colony”.

“Putang ina, I will swear at you in that forum,” he then said, using a Tagalog phrase for “son of a whore” or “son of a bitch”.

Obama initially appeared to play down the insult, calling his Philippine counterpart a “colourful character” and saying he had asked his aides to work out if this is “a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations”.

His aides later cancelled the talks.

Mr Obama’s last scheduled trip to Asia as president has not been without incident: he was also caught up in a protocol row with hosts China over his arrival in Hangzhou.

In his comments on Monday, President Duterte pledged to continue with his anti-drugs campaign that has led to the killing of 2,400 suspected drug dealers and users in the Philippines since he took office in June.

“Many will die, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets… until the [last] drug manufacturer is killed we will continue,” he said.

The UN has repeatedly condemned Mr Duterte’s policies as a violation of human rights. In August, two UN human rights experts said Mr Duterte’s directive for police and the public to kill suspected drug traffickers amounted to “incitement to violence and killing, a crime under international law”.

This round of Asean talks comes against the backdrop of tensions over China’s territorial ambitions in the South China Sea – the Philippines and the US are key players in that debate.

BBC