Philippine President Duterte lashes out at Canada PM Trudeau over drug-war comments

Trudeau, who was present at a summit of southeast Asian countries, said Philippines need a rule of law and expressed his wish on behalf of his federal government to help Philippines.

The Canadian PM said Duterte has been receptive to comments regarding his government's crackdown on drug dealers that had claimed several lives.

But Trudeau's comment was not well accepted by Duterte.

Reacting to Trudeau's comment, Duterte said: "I said, ‘I will not explain. It is a personal and official insult."

"It angers me when you are a foreigner, you do not know what exactly is happening in this country. You don’t even investigate.," the Philippines President added.

Duterte had earlier also reacted in a similar manner when then US President Barack Obama expressed concern over anti-drug campaign.

Duterte called Obama "son of a bitch".

Trudeau, who is present in ASEAN Summit presently, has pitched the country in the ASEAN Summit with an aim to open the door to Canada for its exclusive circle.

While giving the speech, Trudeau said: "Canada is not only willing, but ready to be a key partner for the next 50 years."

"This would allow Canada to become a full and dynamic partner of ASEAN" the PM said.

Trudeau became the first Canadian Prime Minister to get engaged in an hour-long discussion at the ASEAN Summit.

In the summit, Trudeau tried to uplift Canada's profile and convince the international leaders that the country is ready to tackle challenges.

The country is looking to get a seat at the United Nations Security Council, reports said.

Later, the PM was asked about the reason for which he is trying to extend his country in the Asia-Pacific region.

Replying to the question, the PM said: "Canada is a Pacific country, as you well know, and being able to engage on broader issues of security, of development, of human rights, of economic opportunity – broader than just the APEC group – is very much in line with how Canada wants to and should engage constructively with the region and, indeed, with the world."

"Canada is deeply committed to multilateral institutions and fora, and the East Asia Summit is an important one in an extremely compelling and growing region of the world," the PM added.

Days ago, Trudeau had said his government is in no hurry to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal at the time other countries are looking forward to seal the deal.

Trudeau said this at the APEC summit in Vietnam this week.

Trudeau in a press conference said: "Let me remind everyone Canada will not be rushed into a deal that is not in the best interest of Canada and Canadians. I have always been very clear that I will stand up for Canadian jobs, for Canadian values, that's exactly what we will do here."

According to CBC News, Canada is pushing to include chapters like environment, labour rights and gender equality in the revised TPP deal.

About Canada's working on the revised deal, the Canadian PM had earlier said: "Our ministers are very much engaged and working hard on this issue of TPP11."

The Prime Minister at the ASEAN Summit even reacted to the Rohingya crisis. He has highlighted the steps taken by the federal government in Canada to tackle the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.

He said Bob Rae, who has been appointed by the Liberal government in Canada as a special envoy to Myanmar, will find out ways by which Canada can help to solve the refugee crisis.

Images: facebook.com/rodyduterte, twitter.com/JustinTrudeau

(Reporting by Suman Das)