This past Monday, in response to being called an obscenity, President Obama canceled his scheduled meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. Obama was originally planned to meet with Duterte in Laos after attending the G20 summit in China. President Duterte had previously threatened to curse out Obama if he brought up the roughly 2,000 drug-related killings by police that have happened under his watch since assuming office in late June.

On Monday, Duterte stated, “Who does [Obama] 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. Son of a bitch, I will swear at you.”

President Duterte came into office with the goal of crack-ing down on the serious drug trafficking problem that the Philippines faces, and heavily campaigned on this vow. There was popular support for his campaign, but with the number of killings rising steadily since he took office, human rights groups, the United States, and the United Nations have taken notice.

On Monday, when Obama first heard of the obscenity said against him, he shrugged it off and said it was another one of his “colorful statements,” calling him “a colorful guy” at the G20 summit in China. He also called the Philippines a close “friend and ally” of the United States.

When Obama first scheduled the meeting, he said that he would not avoid discussing the “international norms” of due process rights in regard to the police killings. “We recognize the significant burden the drug trade plays in the Philippines and around the world… [But] we will always assert the need to have due process and engage the fight against drugs that is consistent with basic international norms. Undoubtedly, if and when we have a meeting, this is going to be something that’s brought up. My expectation, my hope, is that it could be dealt with constructively.”

Before canceling the meeting, Obama suggested that in order for it not to be canceled, Duterte would have to agree to seriously discussing the issue. “I’m just going to make an assessment,” Obama said. However, later on Monday, Ned Price, a spokes-man for the National Security Council, announced that the meeting between Obama and Duterte had been canceled. Instead, Obama had scheduled to meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

On Tuesday, President Duterte released a statement voicing his regret for his obscene statements. “We look for-ward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions,” read the statement. The statement also stated that the “son of a bitch” comment was actually directed at the journalist that posed the question provoking Duterte’s statements.

Throughout his presidency, Obama has worked on building the United States’ relationship with the Philippines. Duterte’s statement said that the “meet-ing has been mutually agreed upon to be moved to a later date.” </s> The U.S. State Department and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday stressed the need for ties with the Philippines to be based on mutual respect, after Manila's new leader raised worries about the future of the key alliance by calling President Barack Obama a "son of a bitch."

Despite U.S. dismay over Duterte's remarks, though, current and former U.S. officials played down the impact, saying they did not expect any serious damage to ties at a time of high tensions over China's extensive territorial claims in Asia.

The State Department said a planned first meeting between Obama and his counterpart Rodrigo Duterte on the sidelines of a regional summit in Laos on Tuesday was canceled because the tone of the Philippine leader's rhetoric raised questions about the chances of productive talks.

"Words matter, and we want to see an atmosphere that is cordial and open to strong cooperation," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a regular news briefing in Washington.

Clinton, who as secretary of state was an architect of Obama's policy of emphasizing the importance of the Asia Pacific to U.S. interests in the face of a rising China, said Obama was right to cancel the meeting.

"When the president of the Philippines insulted our president, it was appropriate and a very low-key way to say: sorry, no meeting," she told reporters on her campaign plane.

"We have a lot of ties between the United States and the Philippines. And I think it's very important that we have a relationship, but there has to be a certain level of respect that is expected on both sides," Clinton said.

Duterte made the remark about Obama while explaining that he would not be lectured over extrajudicial killings in the war against drugs he has launched since taking two months ago and which has killed about 2,400 people.

He has previously called the pope a "son of a whore" and the U.S. ambassador a "gay son of whore."

The Philippines voiced regret for Duterte's comments after Obama canceled a formal bilateral meeting. The White House then said Obama might speak with Duterte informally.

Duterte's volatile nature threatens to complicate Washington's ties with its closest ally in Southeast Asia as it tries to forge a united front in the region in response to China's extensive claims in the strategic South China Sea.

The Philippines has been central in this effort due to an international court case it brought and won against Beijing.

In March, the United States and the Philippines agreed on five locations for U.S. military facilities in the country under a new security deal. The deal grants Washington increased military presence in its former colony through rotation of ships and planes for humanitarian and maritime security operations.

Asked about Duterte's comments, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the defense relationship with the Philippines was a "strong" and "longstanding" one.

Speaking to reporters, Carter also described the Philippines' new defense minister, Delfin Lorenzana, as someone who was "very knowledgeable about all the things that we do together."

An official of the U.S. State Department said "government to government" relations with Manila remained strong.

"The areas that we believe we have robust, strong cooperation with them, we are not going to just simply throw that aside.”

The official noted that Duterte was new to national leadership having served as a city mayor.

"He is maybe feeling his way into the new job," the official said.

Former U.S. officials said China would be pleased by the U.S.-Philippines friction.

“Time will tell whether President Duterte steps back from this episode and realizes he needs to recalibrate his choice of words in engaging U.S. leaders,” said Amy Searight, a former senior Pentagon official now at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Evan Medeiros, Obama’s former top Asia adviser and now a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group, saw the row as a “speed bump, not a road block” in U.S.-Philippines ties.

“It's unfortunate, but doesn’t fundamentally derail the relationship,” he said. </s> Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret Tuesday that his comments branding US leader Barack Obama a "son of a whore" came across as a personal attack.

The insult on Monday was the latest offensive comment to raise questions about Duterte's diplomatic skills, leading Obama to cancel a planned meeting with him at a regional summit in Laos.

Here are 10 of his most undiplomatic remarks from before and after his landslide election victory this year:

"You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum."

Duterte, who has launched a war on crime that has claimed more than 2,400 lives, warns Obama not to raise human rights issues with him in Laos.

"I'm fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry's) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off."

-- Duterte in an August speech smarting over US Ambassador to Manila Philip Goldberg's criticism of his comment about wanting to rape a "beautiful" Australian missionary.

"Fuck you, UN, you can't even solve the Middle East carnage... couldn't even lift a finger in Africa... shut up, all of you."

-- Duterte in a June press conference, a seemingly unprovoked attack on the world body.

"Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you."

-- Duterte in an August news briefing after a UN human rights expert said orders in his anti-crime crackdown violated international law. He later said he was just joking.

"Ban Ki-moon, he should write to me so that I will tell him: 'You did nothing. People are being massacred by the thousands. You can't stop (the war) in Turkey, Syria.' So one useless, inutile body."

-- Duterte in an August press conference railing against the UN chief after Ban denounced his apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings.

"I will go there on my own with a jet ski, bringing with me a flag and a pole and once I disembark, I will plant the flag on the runway and tell the Chinese authorities, 'Kill me!'"

-- Duterte in a February campaign speech explaining how he would handle Manila's row with Beijing over the South China Sea. He has since adopted a more cautious tone.

"That's the invention of a woman who wants to commit suicide. You can think of genocide, suicide or what, side by side, upper side, whatever, what if upper side or even upside?"

-- Duterte launches a rambling verbal assault on Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on summary executions, after she accused him of violating international law with his statements seen as inciting people to kill.

"I burned the flag of Singapore. I said: 'Fuck you ... You are a garrison pretending to be a country.'"

-- Duterte in a November speech, recalling how in 1995 he burned a Singapore flag to protest at the execution of a Filipina maid in the city-state.

"You are not a warrior if you do that. We are not Arabs. That is not our culture. We are all Malay."

-- Duterte in an August speech condemning how Philippine Islamic militants supposedly mutilated the bodies of slain soldiers.

"It took us five hours to get from the hotel to the airport. I asked who was coming. They said it was the Pope. I wanted to call him: 'Pope, son of a whore, go home. Don't visit anymore.'"

-- Duterte in a November 2015 speech recalling being stuck in Manila traffic when Pope Francis visited the Philippines. </s> U.S. President Barack Obama canceled what would have been his first meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday, after Duterte described Obama as a "son of a bitch".

Duterte, a plain-spoken populist known for his colorful remarks and his campaign against illegal drugs in which thousands of people have died, used the term in front of reporters on Monday, a day ahead of the planned meeting in Laos, where Southeast Asian leaders are meeting for annual summits.

Obama learned about the insult as he emerged from the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China. At a news conference, he said he had told his aides to speak with Philippine officials "to find out is this, in fact, a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations," signaling clearly that the meeting would not proceed as planned.

"I always want to make sure that if I'm having a meeting, that it's actually productive and we're getting something done,” Obama told reporters.

Instead, Obama now plans to meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday, said Ned Price, spokesman for the White House National Security Council - a meeting where the response to North Korea's latest missile tests is expected to be on the agenda.

Obama arrived in Vientiane just before midnight on Monday, for the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to Laos, where he wants to begin to address the legacy of U.S. bombing during the Vietnam War.

He was set to give an address on the importance he has placed on Southeast Asia in his foreign and economic policy during his two terms in office, which will end on Jan. 20, setting the stage for three days of meetings with regional leaders.

The White House had earlier said Obama did not plan to pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Duterte.

Duterte won the presidency in May as he promised to suppress crime and wipe out drugs and drug dealers. At least 2,400 people have been killed since he took office on July 1, including 900 in police operations against drug pushers.

The rest are "deaths under investigation", a term human rights activists in the Philippines say is a euphemism for vigilante and extrajudicial killings.

Duterte said it would be "rude" for Obama to raise the human rights issue and told reporters such a conversation would prompt him to curse at Obama, using a Filipino phrase "putang ina" which can mean "son of a bitch" or "son of a whore".

"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.

Duterte has poured scorn previously on critics, usually larded with curses.

He lambasted the United Nations after it criticized the surge in killings and he turned down a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Laos summit.

In May, he called Pope Francis a "son of a whore", although he later apologized, and called U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg a "gay son of a whore."

On Tuesday, Duterte is scheduled to hold meetings in Laos with the leaders of Singapore, Japan and Vietnam.

The unusually open tensions between the United States and the Philippines, its former colony and long-term ally, threaten to overshadow the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summits in Laos from Tuesday to Thursday.

The 10-member ASEAN will meet leaders of other regional powers: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Russia and the United States.

The Philippines has been aligned with the United States in its dispute with China over the South China Sea, in which Washington blames Beijing for militarizing a vital global trade route and jeopardizing freedom of movement at sea and in the air.

China rejects those accusations and in turn blames the United States for ratcheting up tensions unnecessarily. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

An arbitration court in The Hague in July invalidated China's vast territorial claims to the waterway after a case was brought by the Philippines, a ruling that Beijing refuses to recognize.

Duterte said last month he expected all ASEAN members to support the arbitration court's ruling, but that the Philippines would not raise the issue in Laos. </s> Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has vowed to personally tear apart and eat Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants, in a bloodthirsty vow of revenge for deadly attacks.

"They will pay. When the time comes, I will eat you in front of people," Duterte told an audience of Filipinos late on Monday night while in Laos for a regional summit.

"If you make me mad, in all honesty, I will eat you alive, raw."

Duterte often hurls abusive insults at critics and is waging a brutal war on crime in which nearly 3,000 people have been killed since he took office on June 30.

His aides often urge reporters against taking Duterte's comments literally, cautioning that the 71-year-old former lawyer speaks in a crude language of the people.

During the election campaign earlier this year Duterte attracted widespread criticism for saying he had wanted to rape a "beautiful" Australian missionary who had been sexually assaulted and murdered in a Philippine prison riot.

Duterte, 71, also claimed to keep two mistresses in cheap boarding houses who he took to short-stay hotels for sexual encounters.

Duterte on Monday offered a particularly vivid description of how he would like to eat Abu Sayyaf militants, who killed 15 soldiers last month and are accused of a bombing in his home city last week that claimed 14 lives.

"I will really carve your torso open. Give me vinegar and salt and I will eat you. I'm not kidding," Duterte said, according to an official video of his speech posted on Tuesday.

"These guys are beyond redemption."

The Abu Sayyaf are a small band of Islamic militants based on remote southern islands of the mainly Catholic Philippines and are listed by the United States as a terrorist organisation.

They are notorious for kidnapping foreigners to extract ransoms, and this year beheaded two Canadian hostages.

Duterte also on Monday caused a major diplomatic rift with the United States after branding President Barack Obama a "son of a whore" who would wallow like a pig.

Duterte made the remarks in response to comments by Obama's aides that the US president would raise concerns about the Philippine war on crime when the pair met in Laos.

Obama abruptly cancelled the meeting, which was scheduled for Tuesday, because of the tirade. </s> Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday expressed regret over his “son of a bitch” remark while referring to President Barack Obama.

In a statement read out by his spokesman, Duterte said his “strong comments” to certain questions by a reporter “elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the U.S. president.”

Duterte made the remarks Monday before flying to Laos, where he will attend a regional summit. He had been scheduled to meet Obama separately. But Obama indicated that he was having second thoughts about that meeting.

Duterte said both sides mutually agreed to postpone the meeting.

Even though Duterte’s latest comment does not amount to an apology, the expression of regret is a rare instance when the tough-talking former mayor has expressed contrition for his remarks that often slide into profanity.

“We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries,” the statement said.

The flap over Duterte’s remarks started when a reporter asked him how he intends to explain the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers to Obama. More than 2,000 suspected drug pushers and users have been killed since Duterte launched a war on drugs after taking office on June 30.

In his typical foul-mouthed style, Duterte responded: “I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw questions. Putang ina I will swear at you in that forum,” he said, using the Tagalog phrase for “son of a bitch.”

Duterte has earlier cursed the pope and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“Who is he (Obama) to confront me?” Duterte said, adding the Philippines had not received an apology from the United States for misdeeds committed during its colonization of the Philippines.

He pointed to the killing of Muslim Moros more than a century ago during a U.S. pacification campaign in the southern Philippines, blaming the wounds of the past as “the reason why (the south) continues to boil” with separatist insurgencies.

Last week, Duterte said he was ready to defend his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs, which has sparked concern from the U.S. and other countries.

Duterte said he would demand that Obama allow him to first explain the context of his crackdown before engaging the U.S. president in a discussion of the deaths.

Duterte had previously also branded the U.S. ambassador to Manila a “gay son of a whore,” and sought to taint the reputation of Pope Francis’s mother in similar fashion.

Duterte was elected to office in a landslide this year after pledging to kill 100,000 people in an unprecedented war on crime.

When faced with criticisms over an apparent spate of extrajudicial killings in his crime war by the United Nations, he responded with what has become familiar abuse.

“Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you,” he said last month.

The setback in U.S.-Philippine relations comes at a crucial time in the region, with China seeking to cement control over the contested South China Sea.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have competing claims to the strategically vital waters, but have watched China expand its presence by building artificial islands in key locations.

An international tribunal ruled in July that China’s claims to the waters — through which $5 trillion in global shipping trade passes — had no legal basis.

The verdict was widely seen as a sweeping victory for the Philippines, which filed the suit under the previous administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

But China has vowed to ignore the ruling.

And Duterte has sought to heal relations with China rather than inflame them by pressing the tribunal’s ruling.

Under Aquino, the Philippines had forged closer military ties with the United States to deal with the China threat. But Duterte has cast doubt on that strategy.

Obama’s aides had previously said he wanted to discuss the South China Sea issue with Duterte in Laos.

Nevertheless, the South China Sea issue is expected to once again be discussed at the three days of meetings hosted by ASEAN, which will be attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

The gathering will see the 10 ASEAN members meet by themselves, then with leaders from the U.S., China Japan, South Korea and China.

Other leaders to come for an East Asia summit on Thursday include those from Australia, India and New Zealand.

Laos is the final Asian visit of Obama’s eight-year presidency, during which he has sought to refocus American military, political and economic resources on the region. </s> The president of the Philippines has escalated his campaign of obscene abuse at perceived opponents, foreign and domestic, by calling Barack Obama a “son of a whore”.

Rodrigo Duterte warned the US president to keep off the subject of extrajudicial killings in his country’s brutal drug war when they meet on Tuesday at a regional summit in Laos, telling a press conference that Mr Obama “must be respectful”.

Mr Duterte has faced condemnation from human rights campaigners, diplomats and the UN for inciting a war on drugs which, according to official figures published on Sunday, has led to 2,400 deaths in just two months.

Mr Duterte was answering a reporter’s question on Monday about how he intended to explain the extrajudicial killings to Mr Obama, before boarding a plane to Laos for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

“You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum,” Mr Duterte was quoted by as saying by Agence-France Presse. “We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me.”

The two leaders had been due to hold a meeting on Tuesday on the sidelines of the summit. However, after news of Mr Duterte’s remarks reached the Mr Obama, that appeared to be in doubt.

Mr Obama said he was asking his staff to find out whether a meeting would be useful. “What I’ve instructed my team to do is to talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out is if this in fact a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations,” Mr Obama said at a news conference at the end of the G20 summit in China.

“Obviously the Filipino people are some of our closest friends and allies and the Philippines is a treaty ally of ours. But I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done.” </s> WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will meet controversial Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte next week, the White House said, despite concerns over a war on crime that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.

Since taking office two months ago, Duterte has begun making good on an election pledge to kill tens of thousands of suspected criminals, prompting criticism from rights groups who accuse him of inciting vigilante murders.

He has also lashed out at the United Nations and described the US ambassador to Manila as a “son of a whore.”

However, the White House said Obama would meet the firebrand leader on the sidelines of a summit in Laos, which begins on September 6, with the US president likely to voice disquiet over the bloodshed and Duterte’s abusive remarks.

“We absolutely expect that the president will raise concerns about some of the recent statements from the president of the Philippines,” Obama aide Ben Rhodes told reporters in Washington on Monday.

“We regularly meet with the leaders of our treaty allies where we have differences, whether it relates to human rights practices or derogatory comments. We take the opportunity of those meetings to raise those issues directly.”

Duterte’s war on crime has seen unknown assailants kill more than half the victims, according to police statistics, raising fears that security forces and hired assassins are shooting dead anyone suspected of being involved in drugs.

Police have reported killing 756 people they have branded drug suspects, although they have insisted they are only acting in self-defense.

The US State Department last week said it was “deeply concerned” about reports of extra judicial killings.

The UN’s special rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, also said Duterte’s promise of immunity and bounties to security forces who killed drug suspects violated international law.

Duterte responded by threatening to quit the United Nations, saying: “If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you.”

He later said his threat to withdraw from the UN was a joke, but continued to repeatedly criticize the international body.

And after garnering more bad headlines overseas for calling the US ambassador “gay” and a “son of a whore,” Duterte refused to apologize.

The Philippines, a former US colony, was regarded as one of the United States’ most loyal allies in Asia until Duterte took office.

The two nations are bound by a mutual defense pact. AFP </s> VIENTIANE: Barack Obama met briefly with Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, their two governments said, days after the firebrand politician branded the US president a “son of a whore”.

The encounter took place just before a dinner during a summit of regional leaders in Laos, officials indicated.

“They met at the holding room and they were the last people to leave the holding room. I can’t say how long they met,” Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, travelling with Duterte, told reporters shortly afterwards.

“I’m very happy that it happened.”

In a terse statement, the White House said only that “Obama had a brief discussion with President Duterte before the ASEAN Gala Dinner in the leaders’ hold space.”

“The exchange consisted of pleasantries between the two.”

Obama cancelled Tuesday’s planned meeting with Duterte on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-hosted summit after the notoriously acid-tongued Philippine president launched a barrage of insults the previous day.

His outburst was prompted by US assertions that Obama planned to raise the issue of Duterte’s war on crime that has claimed 3,000 lives in just over two months.

“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.

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

Obama initially responded by calling Duterte a “colourful guy”, but then called off the meeting after the international media reported heavily on the issue.

The snub was a spectacular setback for relations between the United States and Philippines, which are longtime allies and are bound by a mutual defence treaty to help each other in times of war.

The two countries also appeared to clash over the meaning of satellite imagery showing Chinese activity on a disputed reef off the coast of the Philippines.

Releasing the images Duterte’s government said they had evidence China was taking steps to begin dredging — a major escalation.

The White House tried to play down the claim, saying it believed Chinese activity in the area was at the same level as previous months.

Yasay sought to characterise Wednesday’s meeting as proof the alliance was strong enough to withstand such hiccups.

“It all springs from the fact that the relationship between the Philippines and the United States is firm, very strong,” Yasay said.

Nevertheless, Duterte’s office earlier Wednesday released a statement saying he would sit next to Obama at the gala dinner.

“The media from all over the world, including from the Philippines, are up in excitement as each await the event where the two leaders will possibly say something positive,” the statement from the presidential palace said.

However Obama did not sit next to Duterte. AFP
U.S. President Barack Obama cancels a scheduled meeting with the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, after Duterte referred to Obama as a "son of a whore", while adding "I am no American puppet", in response to Obama's recent criticism of his war on drugs.