Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte tells Barack Obama to go to hell

On 4 October, Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte told US President Barack Obama to go to hell and said the United States had refused to sell some weapons to his country but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers. He said the US should have supported the Philippines in tackling its chronic drugs problems but instead criticised him for the high death toll, as did the European Union.

Controversial Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte, has once again lashed out at US President Barack Obama, this time telling him to go to hell.

According to the Associated Press, his comments were made over US criticism of the deadly anti-drugs campaign currently taking place in the Philippines. Duterte also lashed out at the European Union during a speech on 4 October.

Mr. Obama, you can go to hell, Duterte said, before adding: EU, you can choose purgatory, hell is filled up.

The presidents comments came while giving a speech at the Sulong Pilipinas Local Governance Series, where he was justifying his reasoning for ending joint military exercises with the US.

Filipino and American troops launched what is thought to be their final joint military exercise on 4 October, with as many as 2,000 troops from both countries participating in the war games.

Duterte has refused to backtrack on his campaign against illegal drugs. According to local police, at least 2,000 people have died in drug-related killings since Duterte won the presidential election in May.

Washington has repeatedly expressed concerns about the recent surge in drug-related extrajudicial killings. Upset by their criticism, Duterte announced earlier this year that he wanted to reduce the presence of US troops in the Philippines.

This isnt the first time that the Filipino President has lashed out at President Obama. In September, Duterte reportedly warned Obama not to question him on extrajudicial killings, saying: Son of a b****, I will swear at you.

The comment resulted in President Obama cancelling a planned meeting with Duterte, who then insisted that he never used those words to describe the US President. He has previously called UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon a fool.

Duterte has been nicknamed The Punisher due to his tough stance against crime. He threatened to kill 100,000 criminals and throw their bodies into Manila Bay. During his presidential campaign, he vowed to give security forces the right to shoot to kill and bring back capital punishment.