Rodrigo Duerte is no stranger to the burn of the hot water his words land him in and he`s familiar with having to apologize.
The controversial new president of the Philippines has taken on the United Nations, the pope, and now U.S. President Barack Obama with profanity-laced insults.
Duterte, 71, unleashed a tirade this week when asked by a reporter what he would say if Obama questioned the killings of an estimated 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users under Duterte`s war on drugs, calling the president a “son of a bitch” (or son of a whore, depending on the translation).
“Who is he? I am a president of the sovereign state, and we have long ceased to be a colony,” the Philippines president is quoted as saying.
It wasn`t long before Obama cancelled a meeting between the two and Duterte, who became president in June, was expressing regret through a statement read by a spokesperson.
"…We also regret it came across as a personal attack on the U.S. president.”
"Son of a bitch" (or son of a whore, depending on the translation) seems to be a favourite of Duterte. He called Pope Francis by that epithet when he got stuck in traffic in Manila during the pontiff`s visit in January 2015, while Duterte was mayor of Davao City.
He then apologized, saying his words were intended for the organizers of the papal visit, not the pope himself.
He has also called U.S. ambassador Philip Goldberg a “gay son of a bitch.”
Duterte unleashed an outcry during his recent presidential campaign, when recounting the 1989 gang rape and murder of an Australian missionary during a hostage-taking in a Davoa jail.
“I was mad she was raped, but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first.”
He later said he made the remark in anger.
The president has also engaged in a war of words with the United Nations, threatening to withdraw from the international agency, calling it ``useless`` and accusing it of failing to end war, hunger and terrorism.
