Duterte says expletives not directed at Obama

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday clarified that the controversial expletives he uttered were not directed at US President Barack Obama.

"At itong mga taga-[US] State Department, walang… at mabasa ninyo, when you see the Philippine news that they were trying to crucify me for the extrajudicial killings. At sabi ganoon, I will be investigated by the international court. Sabi ko, 'United States? why? Why should I answer them?' There will be a certain time that Obama will ask me about the human rights problem... Sinabi ko, 'I do not answer to anybody except to Filipino people. I’m only responsible to you.' Kaya sabi ko, 'Who he?' ‘Yan ang sinabi ko. If somebody brings it out, and that was at the airport in Davao City, it would be an act of disrespect, bastos ‘yan. ‘Yun lang ang sinabi ko. And you can review the tapes," Duterte said before the Filipino community in Indonesia.

"May sinabi ako pero not in relation to Obama. Sabi ko, ‘wag ninyo akong bastusin. Putang ina niyo. Bababuyin… ‘Yun man ang sinabi ko and you can review the tape," the President once again said.

He was referring to media reports saying that while speaking in Filipino, he referred to Obama as a "son of a whore."

Duterte said that when met the US president, he told Obama, "I never made the statement. Check it out."

The President made the remark during his pre-departure press conference on Monday, when he was asked how he intends to discuss human rights and extrajudicial killings at the ASEAN Summit, especially with Obama.

Duterte invoked sovereignty and said that nobody can lecture him about the topics.

Obama then decided to cancel their bilateral meeting following Duterte's statements.

But the two leaders had interactions at the ASEAN Summit gala dinner and the East Asia Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

Lost in translation

Duterte then blamed the international press for their choice of words when translating "pu**** ina".

"The Americans can spin stories. They used the predicate or the adjective that is really worst to hear. Let me just give you—People judge best when they condemn… Iyong putang ina sa atin, they connected it with the word son of a whore. A whore is a very terrible thing to hear. I was talking all along in the dialect. The best combination there of the words translated to English and they do it every day—son of a bitch, son of a gun, di ba?" Duterte made his case.

"It is not translated in every ordinary day or any other day son of a whore. Pero ginamit nila iyan--siguro si [Obama] took offense. Tignan mo mag-gamit ang international press. You better watch out," the President warned. 

Duterte said he did not care about the bad press as he was only doing the best for the country he serves.

"Sabi nila, my reputation is bad. I do not give a shit. I am the President of the Republic of the Philippines, not the president of the international community, you can all go to hell. I will do what I think is best for my country to the best interests of the Filipino," Duterte said.—KG/NB, GMA News