Will Duterte be careful with his words in Indonesia?

Rappler.com

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Will Duterte be careful with his words in Indonesia?

AFP

Here's a look back at 10 of Duterte's most undiplomatic remarks

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched an obscenity-filled tirade against Barack Obama on Monday, the latest offensive comments to raise questions about his diplomatic skills.

While he later expressed regret over his comments, the damage had been done: Obama canceled their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos. (READ: Obama to Duterte: Fight crime, terror ‘the right way’)

After ASEAN, Duterte is set to meet Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on his first state visit on Friday, September 9.

Prof Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a political analyst who serves as Director for Program and Research at The Habibie Center told Rappler, Duterte may attract negative reactions in Indonesia if he isn’t careful.

“If he were to lash out, it would damage the goodwill message. I hope that will not drown out other important issues,” she said.

She also said that he could be questioned on human rights violations during his visit, perhaps not by the government, but by other sectors like NGOs or media.

“He could actually invite negative, harsh media comments. He may have lashed out against Obama but he could face equally harsh criticisms,” she said.

Will Duterte watch his words during his visit? Here’s a look back at 10 of Duterte’s most undiplomatic remarks:

Respect me

“I do not respond to anybody but to the people of the Republic of the Philippines. Wala akong pakialam sa kanya (I don’t care about him). Who is he?”

– 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 their Laos meeting.

‘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 he burned in 1995 a Singapore flag to protest at 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. – with reports from Agence France-Presse

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!