Obama cancels meeting with ‘colorful’ Philippine president

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post

HANGZHOU, China — After being called an obscenity by the president of the Philippines, President Obama canceled a meeting with the leader, Rodrigo Duterte, scheduled for Tuesday.

Duterte had threatened to curse out the U.S. commander in chief if Obama raised the issue of extrajudicial killings by Philippine authorities in a sweeping crackdown on drug trafficking. Speaking to reporters, Duterte, who took office in June, said the Philippines is a "sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony," according to the Associated Press.

He added that: "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." That is the Tagalog phrase for "son of a bitch" or "son of a whore.”

Asked to respond during a news conference after the Group of 20 Summit in China, Obama said earlier Monday that he had been told of Duterte's comments, but the U.S. president shrugged it off as another in a line of "colorful statements" from Duterte.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/05/philippine-president-threatens-to-curse-out-obama-obama-calls-him-a-colorful-guy/?wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Duterte seems to be a lot like Trump.

[Siwsan]

2. Apparently, diplomacy is not Duterte's strong suit.

Or tact, for that matter. So he would be VERY interesting to watch in a meeting with Trump.

[left-of-center2012]

3. Add him to the list of leaders Trump admires

Putin
Kim Jong-un
Saddam Hussein

and now:
Duterte

[geek tragedy]

4. Time to let the Chinese have their way with the Philippines nt

[AngryAmish]

10. Geek, that is a terrible thing to say.

The Phillipine people could more or less be defined by their refusal to bow to the Chinese hegemon. And fight they have their entire history.

Look how they stood up to the Japanese invader. They are their own people and they own their islands.

[geek tragedy]

12. Yes, their own people.

So we should not treat them like a colony to be protected.

[tcbrola]

5. Duterte

Duterte will regret those words when the Chinese come a knocking at Second Thomas Reef and Scarborough Shoal...

[PSPS]

8. No kidding. The Philippines exists today solely due to the US taxpayer's wallet.

[nitpicker]

17. There are other players in the South China Sea

So I rather expect the US support for the Philippines will not (publicly) change.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Good news. n/t

[Dawson Leery]

7. Trumbots love that little dictator.

Good thing he cancelled.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Seems this is a continuation

of a process begun 25 years ago.

[warrprayer]

11. Just read Duterte's wiki entry

Looks like he is a China puppet.

Suprised he is still in power.

[TomCADem]

13. Unless He Is Ready To Forfeit Philippine Territory to China...

...in an effort to appease them, then Philippines needs the U.S. more than the U.S. needs Philippines. The irony is that Duerte was intimidated into not raising the South Sea issue with China, so he felt the need to act tough, and now is left looking like an idiot. Perhaps he will give up Philippines territorial claims, then claim credit for peace in our time.

[Skittles]

14. colorful = nutcase

[moondust]

15. Clueless.

If somebody suspects that Duturde is pushing drugs then it's okay for them to go ahead and kill him without a trial or anything, right? Isn't that how it works?

[olddad56]

16. I guess he has forgotten that if it had not been for the US, The Phillipines would been destroyed

by the Japanese in WW2.

[Bohunk68]

18. This is the same guy who has called for the execution

of drug dealers. It has been reported that over 100,000 have been executed without trial. The jails are asshole-to-bellybutton full. What I wonder is how many GLBT and others have been murdered and had it claimed that they were drug dealers? Recall how Gitmo got full? There should be a drone in Duterte's future.

[malthaussen]

19. I'd call that undiplomatic on Mr Duterte's part. n/t

[Squaredeal]

20. They picked him, they got him now.

I wonder how the US electorate will feel if Trump wins.

[BootinUp]

21. Colorful. What a nice way to say asshole. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

22. Maybe our ships

ought to stop cruising their waters for a while.