Barack Obama cancelled his meeting with the president of the Philippines, after Rodrigo Duterte called him a

“son of a whore”

Duterte was answering a reporter’s question about how he intended to explain the extrajudicial killings to Obama, before boarding a plane to Laos for the Association of South-east Asian Nations summit. Duterte was quoted by as saying by Agence-France Presse,

“You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum. We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me.”

When his comments reached the Obama, he initially said he was asking his staff to find out whether holding the meeting as scheduled would be useful. Obama said at a news conference at the end of a G20 summit,

“What I’ve instructed my team to do is to talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out, is if this in fact a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations. Obviously the Filipino people are some of our closest friends and allies and the Philippines is a treaty ally of ours. But I always want to make sure that if I’m having a meeting that it’s actually productive and we’re getting something done.”

Hours later the decision was made to cancel, a White House spokesman said. Instead, Obama will meet with South Korean president Park Geun-hye.

In his typical potty-mouthed style, Duterte responded,

“I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased to be a colony. 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.”

If you don’t know about Duterte, he has faced condemnation from human rights campaigners, diplomats and the UN. He’s labeled the US ambassador to Manila,

“a gay son of a whore”

(he needs some lessons in shade, huh?) He told the Catholic church

“don’t fuck with me”

He accused the UN of issuing “shitting” statements about his anti-drugs policies.

Obama joins a long list of people whose mothers Duterte has insulted, including Pope Francis, Philippine bishops and a murdered journalist, as well as the drugs traffickers who are the main targets of his domestic law and order policies.

He took office in June after winning a landslide on promises to sort out drug crime in the country, and told crowds on the day of his inauguration. He’s a horrible person and President, he said,

“If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful.”

During his campaign, he said 100,000 people would die in his crackdown, with so many dead bodies dumped in Manila Bay that fish there would grow fat from feeding on them. According to official figures published on Sunday, his war on drugs has led to 2,400 deaths in just the last two months.

The call has led to what critics say amounts to open season on suspected drug criminals on the streets of Manila and other major cities, with thousands killed by vigilantes and police, who invariably claim to have fired back in self-defence.

In June, the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, condemned Duterte’s support for extrajudicial killings, saying they were

“illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms”

Duterte replied by calling the UN “stupid” and threatening to withdraw the Philippines. Asked about the possible repercussions of his comments, he said:

“What is … repercussions? I don’t give a shit to them.”

He should be careful, with talk like that he might get labeled the Donald Trump of the East.

Filipinos carry the coffin of an alleged drug dealer at Manila North Cemetery. Catholic leaders say they are powerless to stop a growing number of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines that have come with Duterte’s war on drugs.

(via The Guardian)