Philippines President curses Obama

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte tore into President Obama with an obscenity on Monday, leading the White House to cancel an upcoming meeting with Duterte.

White House officials previously said Obama would confront Duterte about his country’s handling of drug dealers, including extrajudicial killings, which are government executions without the benefit of judicial proceedings, reports CNN.

‘Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people,’ Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday. ‘Son of a bitch, I will swear at you.’

Obama and Duterte had been set to meet in Laos this week, where Obama is attending a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders. Obama instead will meet on Tuesday with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea. Duterte also blamed the United States for causing the unrest on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.

‘As a matter of fact, we inherited this problem from the United States,’ he said. ‘Why? Because they invaded this country and made us their subjugated people. Everybody has a terrible record of extrajudicial killing. Why make an issue about fighting crime?’

He added: ‘Look at the human rights of America along that line. The way they treat the migrants there.’ In response, Obama suggested earlier Monday his planned meeting with Duterte might not go forward.

‘I always want to make sure if I`m having a meeting that it’s productive and we’re getting something done,’ Obama said during a news conference.

‘If and when we have a meeting, this is something that is going to be brought up,’ Obama said, referring to the Philippines’ controversial record of combating drug crime since Duterte took office earlier this year.

Later, on Monday afternoon, the White House announced the meeting was canceled.