President Barack Obama cancelled a meeting with Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte over a foul-mouthed tirade.
Duterte called Obama a “son of a bitch” before a meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday. “You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a bitch, I will curse you in that forum,” Duterte said, expecting Obama to criticize him for human rights abuses in a drug war which has left over 2,400 dead.
Duterte added that the drug war will continue. “More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets.”
In response, Obama cancelled his meeting with Duterte. The two leaders were originally scheduled to meet for the first time on the sidelines of a summit in Laos.
It is exceptionally rare for Obama to cancel a meeting with a state leader. Obama decided to pass on a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Moscow granted Edward Snowden asylum in 2013, but such occurrences are uncommon, especially with U.S. allies like the Philippines.
Obama said that he would meet with Duterte at a later point in time, when the two can have “constructive, productive conversations.”
In the aftermath, Duterte expressed regret over his comments, suggesting he did not intend for his comments to be taken “as a personal attack on the US president.”
“We look forward to ironing out our differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions,” a spokesperson said on behalf of Duterte.
While tensions are likely to dissipate, this spat has brought a number of changes in the U.S.-Philippines relationship into the spotlight.
Duterte is rapidly becoming a beacon for domestic nationalism and anti-American sentiment in the Philippines.
“Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign state, and we have long ceased to be a colony. I do not have any master except the Filipino people,” Duterte said before cursing at Obama in his native language.
Duterte has been pulling away from the U.S. since he took office. “I will be charting a [new] course [for the Philippines] on its own and will not be dependent on the United States,” Duterte said one day after he was elected.
He has openly questioned whether the U.S. would come to the Philippines’ aid in the event of armed conflict with China over maritime territorial disputes.
Duterte called U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg “a gay son of a bitch,” and then a month later, he turned around and said roughly the same thing about Obama.
Rather than reaching out to the U.S., Duterte has been making overtures towards China. Duterte has met regularly with Chinese diplomats, de-emphasized the arbitration ruling on the South China Sea that his predecessor fought to secure, and sent special envoys to meet with Chinese officials.
Concerned by increased Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III embraced the U.S.-Philippines alliance. The Philippine Supreme Court approved the return of U.S. troops in January.
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