Duterte also unsure if bilateral talks with Obama will push through

President Rodrigo Duterte hinted on Monday night that the bilateral meeting with United States President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos might not push through. 

 

“I don’t know. Maybe if I feel good,” Duterte told GMA News’ Ian Cruz after his meeting with the Filipino community in the Laotian capital.

 

Pres. Duterte meets the Filipino Community here in Vientiane, Laos @gmanews pic.twitter.com/xmWCm4ky4w

— Ian Cruz (@_iancruz) September 5, 2016

 

Duterte's uncertainty echoed Obama's, who said earlier that he needed to ask his staff if meeting Duterte would be “productive.”   

 

Before leaving for Laos, Duterte, in his pre-departure news conference, said that not even Obama could lecture him on extrajudicial killings and human rights violations linked to his war on drugs. 

 

Duterte also blamed the US Department of State for openly criticizing his anti-drug policies when they could have used more diplomatic methods. 

 

"Sila ang isyu nang isyu ng national security adviser niya. I think it was one of his staff, national security adviser was saying they will bring up the matter of extrajudicial killings. That is not a proper subject of a summit like this. It would be improper and highly bastos,” the president argued.

 

“I do not want to quarrel with the most powerful country in the planet. Ang mali lang nila iyong staff, State Department keeps on mouthing. You could have just sent me a note verbale or whatever and let me respond and let the human rights act on it. There's a protocol for that. You just cannot shoot a statement against the president of any country,” he also stressed. 

 

While Obama conceded that Washington recognized that the drug trade was a significant problem in the Philippines, he added that some concerns had to be raised. 

 

"The issue of how we approach fighting crime and drug trafficking is a serious one for all of us. We've got to do it the right way," the US president said in a press conference at the Hangzhou G20 summit. — DVM, GMA News