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US
President Barack Obama (left) and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte ©Saul
Loeb, Manman Dejeto (AFP)
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Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte called Barack Obama a "son of a whore" on Monday as
he vowed not to be lectured by the US leader on human rights when they meet in
Laos.
AFP
report continues:
The
acid-tongued Duterte bristled at warnings he would face questioning by the US
president over a war against drugs in the Philippines that has claimed more
than 2,400 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 a news conference
shortly before flying to Laos to attend a summit.
"We
will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me."
Duterte
was due to hold a bilateral meeting with Obama on Tuesday afternoon on the
sidelines of a gathering of global leaders hosted by the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, the Lao capital.
But
shortly after Duterte spoke, Obama appeared to cast doubt on whether such a
meeting could take place.
Calling
Duterte "a colourful guy", the US president said was asking his staff
to find out whether a meeting would be useful.
"I
always want to make sure if I'm having a meeting that it's actually productive
and we're getting something done," he told reporters.
Duterte,
71, was elected in May after a promise to wage an unprecedented war on illegal
drugs that would see tens of thousands of suspects killed.
Official
figures released Sunday show that, since he took office on June 30, over 2,400
people have been killed in police anti-drug operations and by suspected
vigilantes.
Speaking
on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, Obama said
Washington recognized that drugs were a significant problem for the
Philippines. But he insisted that he would not shy away from raising concerns
about the way the issue was being handled under the new administration.
"The
issue of how we approach fighting crime and drug trafficking is a serious one
for all of us. We've got to do it the right way," he said.
"Undoubtedly,
if and when we have a meeting, this is something that's going to be brought up.
And my expectation, my hope is that it could be dealt with
constructively."
Duterte
has angrily rejected criticism from the Catholic Church, human rights groups,
legislators and the United Nations.
And
he vowed Monday the bloodbath would continue as he pursued his goal of
eradicating illegal narcotics in the Philippines.
"More
people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of
the streets. Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and
I will continue," he said.
Duterte
insisted he would not take orders from the United States, a former colonial
ruler of the Philippines, and did not care about how he was perceived.
Duterte
has quickly earned a reputation for making offensive comments about his
critics, or others he does not like.
He
has also branded Pope Francis and the US ambassador to Manila sons of whores.
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