Duterte to Obama: I never cursed you

   Photo by Inquirer

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said that he told United States President Barack Obama that he never called him a “son of a bitch”.

He however, maintained that he remains defiant on his war against drugs and said that United Nations sectary Ban Ki-moon was a fool for talking about human rights violations.

After the news of Duterte allegedly cursing Obama spread and even reached international headlines, the US President cancelled his scheduled meeting with the Philippine President on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Nations in Vientiane, Laos this week.

“I do not have any master except the Filipino people, nobody but nobody. You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Putang ina, I will curse you in that forum,” Duterte told reporters, using the Filipino phrase for “son of a bitch,”.

While in Indonesia, Duterte met with Filipinos in Shangri-La Jakarta Hotel and clarified that the term was not directed at Obama and that he told him so during a brief meeting before the ASEAN leader’s gala on Wednesday.

“I told him in a holding room, ‘President Obama, I’m President Duterte. I never made that statement. Check it out,” he said.

He claimed Obama responded by saying “My men will talk to you”.

To which he replied, “OK”.

The Philippine president did not deny saying “son of a bitch” but claimed that it was not for Obama.

“I was not fighting America.” he added.

Duterte claimed the remark was directed at the US State Department which has been loud about their concerns on the human rights situation in the country.

“I got really angry about these threats over this human rights issue. This is the fault of the crazy people in the state department,” he said.

Duterte blamed the incident on “media spin”, citing the apology of TV5’s Ed Lingao as proof of the media’s erroneous interpretation.

SOURCE: Inquirer

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