By ARGYLL B. GEDUCOS
JERUSALEM, Israel – After harboring ill feelings for so long, President Duterte has finally mellowed on former United States President Barack Obama, apologizing to him for cursing him out for the past two years.
In a speech during his meeting with members of the Filipino community here Sunday (early yesterday morning in Manila), Duterte recalled how he cursed Obama in public for criticizing his war on drugs and telling him to uphold human rights.
According to Duterte, Obama should know never to criticize a country for the problems that they are trying to solve. “Being the President of a republic, you ought to know the basic rules. You do not criticize, especially if it is a problem of the country that you are criticizing,” he said.
Duterte said Obama should not have gone public with his criticisms on him and instead should have lodged a complaint with the United Nations.
“Obama, in public in a press briefing, knowing fully well that he was talking about me, who is a head of state, however small and humble may be, he castigated me about human rights. Eh sinobrahan niya eh,” he said. “If you have qualms, if you have complaints against me, go to the United Nations. File your complaint there and ask for a hearing. Hindi ‘yan diretsuhin mo ako you tell me in public that I am wrong,” he added.