US President Barack Obama (left) speaks during a press conference after the end of the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, while (right), Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses a press conference in Davao City, the Philippines, prior to his departure for Laos to attend the ASEAN summit, September 5, 2016. (AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB AND MANMAN DEJETO)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret on Tuesday for a tirade against Barack Obama in which he called the US leader a “son of a whore.”
“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,” a statement released by Duterte said.
The US and Philippine leaders were due to meet later in the day in the Lao capital of Vientiane at a gathering organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
But Obama pulled out of the meeting after Duterte’s tirade against him, delivered at a press conference Monday.
The acid-tongued former prosecutor warned he would not be lectured by Obama over concerns about a brutal war on crime that has claimed more than 2,400 lives in the Philippines.
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This file photo taken on July 27, 2016 shows Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (R) greeting US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg (L) as US Secretary of State John Kerry looks on during his visit to the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila. (AFP/Pool/Aaron Favila)
“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.
Duterte’s statement on Tuesday in Laos struck a much more conciliatory tone, saying both sides would hold face-to-face talks “at a later date.”
“Our primary intention to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with all nations especially the US with which we have a long standing partnership,” the statement said.
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“We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priority perceptions and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries,” it added.
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