Obama snubs Duterte In Laos?
Obama snubs Duterte? United States President Barack Obama has snubbed President Rodrigo Duterte at the closing of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-East Asia Summit.
Duterte, according to a report on GMA News, has delivered a ‘strong’ impromptu speech about the US military kil1ings in the Philippines.
The report by GMA’s ‘Unang Balita’ quoted a reliable source saying that Obama, before leaving the room, shakes hands with the Asian leaders of the East Asia group, but not Duterte.
But, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. have said that “Obama and Duterte just happened to walk in opposite directions at the time.”
Even though Yasay didn’t say give further details on what the Philippine President have said in the meeting, he confirmed that Obama was really in the room.
In another report, an Indonesian diplomat said, as quoted, that President Duterte “showed a picture of the kil1ings of American soldiers in the past and the President said: ‘This is my ancestor[s that] they killed. Why now we are talking about human rights.”
It added that the atmosphere of inside the room appeared to be “quiet and shocked.”
On the other hand, Obama said in a press conference that Duterte needs to do his campaign against crime “the right way.”
It has been clarified by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that Duterte and Obama have met and greeted each other before the ASEAN Summit gala dinner. Obama confirmed that he even shook hands with the Philippine President but, Obama said that it “was not a long interaction.”
The issue between Obama and Duterte has spurred after news outlets locally and internationally quoted Duterte saying that the U.S. President Obama, a “son of a wh0re”.
Duterte already apologized for the incident but, pointing out that it appeared to be an attack on Obama.