Anak ng p-ta diplomacy

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

All’s well that ends well, according to Foreign Affairs Sec. PerfectorYasay after   Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret that his comments branding US leader Barack Obama a "son of a whore" came across as a personal attack.

Obama told a press conference in Laos he didn’t take the slur personally as it was apparently a “habit” of Duterte, having said that referring to the Pope.

“Anak ng puta” (son of a whore) is just an expression in this Banana Republic among the masses like “fuck” or “fuck you” in the US, and should not be taken seriously, according to our neighborhood philosopher.

But then, he says, government officials like Duterte should be careful with their words as they represent government and the Filipino as a whole and speaking in a coarse manner is not the way to teach the young how to speak. Even if some people don’t mind gutter language, he says, others are offended by cuss words.

Anyhow, the President’s “insult” on Monday was the latest offensive comment to raise questions about Duterte's diplomatic skills, leading Obama to cancel a planned meeting with him at the regional summit in Laos.

Here are 10 of his most undiplomatic remarks from, before and after his landslide election victory this year as culled by Agence France Presse:

- Respect me, anak ng puta  (son of a whore)  -

"You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Anak ng puta, I will curse you in that forum."

Duterte, who has launched a war on crime that has claimed more than 2,400 lives, warns Obama not to raise human rights issues with him in Laos.

- 'Gay' envoy -

"I'm fighting with (US Secretary of State John Kerry's) ambassador. His gay ambassador, the son of a whore. He pissed me off."

-- Duterte in an August speech smarting over US Ambassador to Manila Philip Goldberg's criticism of his comment about wanting to rape a "beautiful" Australian missionary.

- 'Fuck you, UN' -

"Fuck you, UN, you can't even solve the Middle East carnage... couldn't even lift a finger in Africa... shut up, all of you."

-- Duterte in a June press conference, a seemingly unprovoked attack on the world body.

- UN pullout -

"Maybe we'll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you."

-- Duterte in an August news briefing after a UN human rights expert said orders in his anti-crime crackdown violated international law. He later said he was just joking.

- 'Inutile' Ban -

"Ban Ki-moon, he should write to me so that I will tell him: 'You did nothing. People are being massacred by the thousands. You can't stop (the war) in Turkey, Syria.' So one useless, inutile body."

-- Duterte in an August press conference railing against the UN chief after Ban denounced his apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings.

- Jet ski policy -

"I will go there on my own with a jet ski, bringing with me a flag and a pole and once I disembark, I will plant the flag on the runway and tell the Chinese authorities, 'Kill me!'"

-- Duterte in a February campaign speech explaining how he would handle Manila's row with Beijing over the South China Sea. He has since adopted a more cautious tone.

- Suicide, genocide, upside -

"That's the invention of a woman who wants to commit suicide. You can think of genocide, suicide or what, side by side, upper side, whatever, what if upper side or even upside?"

-- Duterte launches a rambling verbal assault on Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on summary executions, after she accused him of violating international law with his statements seen as inciting people to kill.

- Burning Singapore flag -

"I burned the flag of Singapore. I said: 'Fuck you ... You are a garrison pretending to be a country.'"

-- Duterte in a November speech, recalling how in 1995 he burned a Singapore flag to protest the execution of a Filipina maid in the city-state.

- Arab culture -

"You are not a warrior if you do that. We are not Arabs. That is not our culture. We are all Malay."

-- Duterte in an August speech condemning how Philippine Islamic militants supposedly mutilated the bodies of slain soldiers.

- Pope, go home -

"It took us five hours to get from the hotel to the airport. I asked who was coming. They said it was the Pope. I wanted to call him: 'Pope, son of a whore, go home. Don't visit anymore.'"

-- Duterte in a November 2015 speech recalling being stuck in Manila traffic when Pope Francis visited the Philippines.

***

The Presidential Communications Operations Office released a statement saying the meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and President Rodrigo Duterte has been moved to a mutually agreeable date.

The PCO said in a statement it was a welcome development after the White House canceled the original scheduled meeting following Duterte’s acerbic tirade against the U.S. president for supposedly meddling in the country’s war against illegal drugs.

While the statement downplayed Duterte’s vitriolic remarks as “strong comments,”it also expressed regret that said comments came across as a personal attack on Obama.It goes on to acknowledge the country’s long standing partnership with the U.S. and maintained that the administration’s prime intention is to craft an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with all nations, the Malacanang statement said.

Longtime allies the United States and the Philippines have seen relations plunge under a barrage of insults from Duterte since he came to office on June 30.

"While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the US president," a statement released by Duterte said.

The 71-year-old former prosecutor was referring to his remarks on Monday, when he warned he would not be lectured by Obama over concerns about a brutal war on drug crime that has claimed more than 2,400 lives nationwide.

Duterte, who has quickly earned a global reputation for his jibes, then used typically colorful language to describe their planned meeting if rights issues came up.

"We will be wallowing in the mud like pigs if you do that to me," he said."Our primary intention is to chart an independent foreign policy while promoting closer ties with all nations especially the US with which we have a longstanding partnership," Duterte's statement said.

The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs added Duterte had "a deep regard and affinity for President Obama and for the enduring partnership between our nations".

Duterte has angrily rejected criticism from the Catholic Church, human rights groups, legislators and the United Nations over his drug purge.

During his Monday outburst he said the bloodbath would continue.

"More people will be killed, plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue," he said.

He also added he would not take orders from the United States, a former colonial ruler of the Philippines, and did not care about how he was perceived.

"I don't give a shit about anybody observing my behavior," he said.

But shortly after Duterte spoke, Obama appeared to cast doubt on whether such a meeting could take place.

Calling Duterte "a colorful guy", the US president said was asking his staff to find out whether a meeting would be useful."I always want to make sure if I'm having a meeting that it's actually productive and we're getting something done," he told reporters.

Duterte, 71, was elected in May after a promise to wage an unprecedented war on illegal drugs that would see tens of thousands of suspects killed.

Official figures released Sunday show that, since he took office on June 30, over 2,400 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations and by suspected vigilantes.

Duterte has angrily rejected criticism from the Catholic Church, human rights groups, legislators and the United Nations.And he vowed Monday the bloodbath would continue as he pursued his goal of eradicating illegal narcotics in the Philippines.

"More people will be killed,plenty will be killed until the last pusher is out of the streets. Until the (last) drug manufacturer is killed, we will continue and I will continue," he said.

***

And now from Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin M. Drilon on the cancellation of the meeting between Duterte and Obama.

“Talk about starting off on the wrong foot, ” Drilon said, adding, “The scheduled meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and US President Barack Obama would have been an opportunity for the two heads of states to know each other on a personal level.

“It is unfortunate that such meeting did not push through because of unnecessary rhetoric over human rights issues.
           We must remember that our foreign policy is shaped in accordance with our national interest. Unfriendly rhetoric and undiplomatic statements will not bring us anywhere.

We should maintain our relations with the US as a strong treaty ally that have been built over decades.
I am hopeful that the long-standing relationship between the two nations will remain to endure and that both leaders will have other opportunities of meeting again under a more comfortable and friendly circumstances.
There is no doubt that the relations between the Philippines and the United States remain strong, and continue to be anchored on mutual respect and cooperation.