After President Rodrigo Duterte said foul words in tagalog "son of a bitch," which ignite and caused the white house to withdraw the meeting between President Barack Obama and Duterte on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
The Asean Summit which is the meeting that comprises of the world's leaders where the Philippines is included, President Duterte arrived in Laos on Monday night to meet all the leaders and members from different countries.
Meamwhile, hours earlier, he dropped a diplomatic bombshell by saying he doesn’t want Obama to ask him questions about extrajudicial killings that have occurred amid an ongoing war on drugs in the Philippines and there are more than 2,000 people have been killed, since the president took office on June 30.
To note war on drugs, suppression of corruption and crime are one of the promises of Duterte during the campaign period.
The president loosed some words and said, “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.”
But on Tuesday, since the damage has been done, Duterte expressed regret over the remarks he said referring to Obama.
Salvador Panelo, Presidential Chief Legal Counsel claimed that the US government was "misreading" Duterte's words.
Panelo said, “Don’t put meaning to that. That’s just his style. It’s just a hyperbole,” he added, “It’s just an expression. I don’t think it was directed to President Obama.,” Panelo said to the reporters.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement that President Duterte wanted to reassure the United States that his administration “continues to value the alliance” between the two countries.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) representative, Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, said the Philippine designation was all the while pushing for the two-sided meeting amongst Obama and Mr. Duterte and still hoping for another meeting to be held.
“Schedules are tight, but there are still occasions for the two leaders to meet here in Laos during the Asean summit. We’re working for that to happen,” Jose said in a text message on Tuesday to the Inquirer.
During the opening of the summit, Laos president said, “There is a need for us to closely follow these developments and continue to enhance Asean cooperation and collaboration with the international community."
Countries members of Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma (Myanmar), Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The summit will be trailed by a progression of different gatherings on Wednesday and a summit on Thursday between pioneers from Asean and different nations, including the United States, China, Russia, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Obama touched base in Vientiane on Monday night and will go to Thursday's summit.