Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday he told President Barack Obama during their encounter in Laos that he never cursed him.
On a visit to Indonesia, Mr. Duterte told the Filipino community there that he told Mr. Obama- “President Obama, I’m President Duterte. I never made that statement, check it out.”Mr. Duterte blamed the media for distorting his words, saying he did utter “son of a bitch” but it was not directed at Mr. Obama.
Before travelling to Laos for regional summits, Mr. Duterte said on Monday that Mr. Obama should not question him about the rising death toll in his war on drugs, which has been criticised abroad and by Mr. Duterte’s opponents in the Philippines. More than 2,800 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed since Mr. Duterte took office.
Asked how he would explain the killings to Mr. Obama, he said in a long answer that the Philippines has long ceased to be a colony of the United States and he did not have a master except the Filipino people.
