Philippines president reaffirms deadly anti-drug campaign

VIENTIANE, Laos — Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte defiantly reaffirmed his controversial campaign against drugs Tuesday and called for a redoubling of crime-fighting efforts across Southeast Asia as he prepared to face two prominent critics of his policy: President Barack Obama and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“We shall not be cowed. We must press on,” he declared in a speech at a business and investment conference on the sidelines of a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which he is attending. He called for increased use of intelligence gathering and more arrests.

The summit has been overshadowed by his use of profane language toward Obama. Duterte also threatened earlier to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations over criticism of his crackdown on illegal drug trade that has led to a wave of extrajudicial killings. More than 2,000 people have been killed since June 30, when he took office after winning election on a promise to fight crime and corruption.

On Wednesday he is to attend a gala dinner with both Obama and Ban, as well as join a meeting that the two leaders will have with ASEAN heads of state and government.

Earlier Tuesday, Duterte expressed regret over his “son of a bitch” remark while referring to Obama, in a rare display of contrition by a politician whose wide arc of profanities has unabashedly targeted world figures including the pope.

In a statement read by his spokesman, Duterte said his “strong comments” in response to questions by a reporter “elicited concern and distress, we also regret it came across as a personal attack on the U.S. president.”

Duterte made the intemperate remarks Monday before flying to Laos. He had been scheduled to meet Obama separately on Tuesday, but the White House canceled the meeting.

Duterte’s aides are likely to have realized there would be a price to pay for insulting the president of the United States.

The U.S. is one of the Philippines’ largest trading partners and a key security ally in its fight against Muslim militants in the country’s south. Manila also needs Washington’s help in dealing with a more assertive China in the disputed South China Sea. The U.S. provides hundreds of millions of dollars in annual assistance to the Philippine military.