Hillary Clinton: Obama Made Appropriate Decision Not To Meet Duterte

On Wednesday, September 7,2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton  said U.S. President Barack Obama made the appropriate decision to discontinue his meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. She also added in her statement that when you meet with anyone, ally or adversary, you come in with a list of issues that are important to be raised and makes you determine what they are.

The comments made by Duterte regarding the U.S. and Obama before he left for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit on Monday have resulted in Washington cancelling a bilateral meeting between the two nations. Duterte threatened to curse at Obama if the American leader voices concern over the Philippines' brutal campaign against drugs and crime. Duterte later sought to defuse the row, voicing regret. The two had been scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos.

Clinton pointed out that Obama wanted to bring up the issue of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines under Duterte administration's ongoing war on illegal drugs, that is now somewhere up near 2,000 killings. "When the president of the Philippines insulted our president, it was appropriate and a very low key way to say: sorry, no meeting. And since then there's been an apology and an expression of regret, which is appropriate," Clinton added.

Duterte on the other hand has issued a statement saying he hopes to resolve his spat with Washington, a long-time ally of the Philippines. While the immediate cause was his strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, He also regrets that it came across as a personal issue directly on the US President. He also included in his statement: "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 had long standing partnership," he said. "We look forward to ironing out differences arising out of national priorities and perceptions, and working in mutually responsible ways for both countries." 

Duterte made it clear that he gave his consent to the cancellation of what would have been his first meeting with the US leader. He reiterated that the meeting between the United States and the Philippines has been mutually considered to be transferred to a later date. But Presidential peace adviser, Jesus Dureza admitted that the meeting has yet to be rescheduled. 

Source: ABC-CBN