[Breaking news update at 12:48 a.m. ET]
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte says in a statement that he regrets that earlier comments “came across as a personal attack” against US President Barack Obama. Duterte tore into Obama Monday saying “I am no American puppet” and “I will swear at you.” The White House later canceled a scheduled meeting between the two. Duterte’s latest statement says both sides have agreed to move the meeting to a later date. “We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions,” the statement reads.
[Previous story, published at 12:00 a.m. ET]
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte tore into President Obama with an obscenity on Monday, and later the White House canceled a scheduled meeting with Duterte.
White House officials previously said Obama would confront Duterte about his country’s handling of drug dealers, including extrajudicial killings, which are government executions without the benefit of judicial proceedings.
“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,” Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday. “Son of a bitch, I will swear at you.”
Obama and Duterte had been set to meet in Laos this week, where Obama is attending a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders.
Obama instead will meet on Tuesday with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea.
Duterte also blamed the United States for causing the unrest on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.
“As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States,” he said. “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 added: “Look at the human rights of America along that line. The way they treat the migrants there.”
In response, Obama suggested earlier Monday his planned meeting with Duterte might not go forward.
“I always want to make sure if I’m having a meeting that it’s productive and we’re getting something done,” Obama said during a news conference.
“If and when we have a meeting, this is something that is going to be brought up,” Obama said, referring to the Philippines’ controversial record of combating drug crime since Duterte took office earlier this year.
Later, on Monday afternoon, the White House announced the meeting was canceled.
The Philippines war on drugs
Since Duterte was elected, more than 1,900 people have died, including at least 700 in police operations that were part of the President’s hard-line war on drugs.
“Double your efforts. Triple them, if need be. We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher have surrendered or [been] put behind bars — or below the ground, if they so wish,” Duterte said during his State of the Nation speech on July 25.
Despite the bullish tone, a government spokesman insisted the Duterte administration is against any form of extrajudicial killings.
“We do not condone these acts,” Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said.
“(The) government is here to save our people from the drug menace and punish the offenders, including the big-time ones. The PNP (Philippines National Police) continues to investigate situations involving vigilante killings and operational aspects where deaths are reported.”
Human Rights Watch has called for the International Narcotics Control Board and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to condemn the “alarming surge in killings of suspected drug users or dealers” in the country.
