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Philippine president Duterte shoots his mouth off again

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Philippine president regrets insult to US president Obama. We recap some of Mr Duterte's more colourful remarks

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed regret yesterday that a tirade against Mr Barack Obama, in which he called the US leader a "son of a whore", came across as a personal attack.

The latest outburst came on Monday before a planned meeting between the leaders at an Asean summit in Laos.

Mr Obama responded to the outburst by cancelling the talks, which prompted Mr Duterte to offer a qualified expression of regret.

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

"You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum," Mr Duterte told reporters when asked about his message for Mr Obama.

Mr Duterte is known for his colourful language. Here are some of his most undiplomatic remarks.

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

- 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.

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

- In a June press conference.

"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'."

- Railing against the UN chief after Mr Ban denounced his apparent endorsement of extrajudicial killings.

"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!'"

- 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.

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

- In a speech last month condemning how Philippine Islamic militants supposedly mutilated the bodies of slain soldiers.

"They will pay. When the time comes, I will eat you in front of people. If you make me mad, in all honesty, I will eat you alive, raw."

- Mr Duterte talking revenge on Abu Sayyaf to an audience of Filipinos late on Monday night while in Laos for a regional summit.

"Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I'd kill you. I'll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there."

- In his final campaign rally on May 7

"He is a bigot and I am not".

- On US presidential candidate Donald Trump

Source: AFP, BBC

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