Rodrigo Duterte apologises for abusing Obama, calls Trump 'good friend'

Rodrigo Duterte

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, during his speech to Filipino workers here on Sunday, apologised for abusing former US President Barack Obama.

Referring to his stern language towards Obama in 2016, Duterte, who arrived in Israel on September 2 on a four-day official visit, said it would be appropriate to say at this time that "Obama, you're a civilian. I am sorry for uttering those words".

At the same time, he described Obama as a "cold" person who was "always at a distance", adding that the current US President Donald Trump is his "good friend", Sputnik news reported. In 2016, Duterte warned Obama against questioning his extrajudicial drug-war-related killings of alleged criminals.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever