Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Barack Obama
Philippine
leader Rodrigo Duterte has apologised to former US president Barack
Obama for calling him a “son of a whore” in 2016, which sparked a new
low in their nations’ long alliance.
Duterte lobbed
the insult in response to steady criticism from the United States over
his violent drug crackdown, which has been a target for international
condemnation.
However, the Philippine president said his nation’s
relationship with America has since improved under President Donald
Trump, who he described as a “good friend” who “speaks my language”.
“It
would be appropriate also to say at this time to Mr. Obama that you are
now a civilian and I am sorry for uttering those words,” Duterte said
Sunday in a speech before Filipinos in Israel.
Duterte landed in
Israel on Sunday for a four-day stay as the Philippines seeks to develop
new sources of military hardware and nail down protections for its
overseas workers.
“If it is (in) your heart to forgive, you
forgive. I have forgiven you, just like my girlfriends when I was still a
bachelor… I have forgiven them also,” the Philippine leader said in the
same speech.
After his election in mid-2016, Duterte quickly
earned a reputation for using vulgar language against critics which his
aides have tried to minimise or explain away.
He branded Pope
Francis and the then US ambassador to Manila “sons of whores”. He also
fired expletives at the United Nations and during a speech in the
Philippines raised his middle finger in defiance to the European
parliament.
Duterte often rails at critics of his campaign to rid
the Philippines of narcotics, which police say has killed 4,410 alleged
drug dealers or users.
Rights groups say the actual number of dead is triple that and could amount to crimes against humanity.
Duterte
cursed Obama ahead of a regional summit in Laos two years ago prompting
the US to cancel a meeting between the two leaders there.
Obama later described Duterte as “a colourful guy” as he urged him to conduct his anti-narcotics campaign “the right way”.
Duterte
sparked new criticism ahead of his departure for Israel, blaming the
high number of rapes in his hometown of Davao on a large number of
beautiful women there.
“They say there are many rape cases in
Davao,” Duterte said in a speech on Thursday. “For as long as there are
many beautiful women, there will be many rape cases, too.”
Duterte
has on several occasions made rape jokes in public since his
presidential campaign. The latest comment was denounced by women’s
rights defenders.
“Beauty doesn’t cause rape, rapists do,” said Philippine lawmaker Risa Hontiveros, a Duterte critic.
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