PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte admitted Monday that he purposely snubbed some Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation's (Apec) key events in Peru to avoid an "awkward situation" with outgoing United States President Barack Obama.
At the Wallace Business Forum held Monday evening at the Palace, the President recanted his earlier statement that he skipped Apec events because of bum stomach.
Duterte explained that he had asked Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. to represent him because he did not want to "make a scene" since Obama was also present at the event.
"I did not have a bum stomach. Do not believe it," Duterte said.
"There was this awful criticism about me [that] I was not there. I asked Yasay to stand in for them. I was there. I attended the meetings, actually. Do not believe those idiots out there outside. But you know, Obama was there, and because we had an exchange of words, I was just trying to avoid an awkward situation," he added.
Duterte said he had initially considered trying to talk to Obama but ended up avoiding the latter for fear that he would be ignored.
"I would not know if he would accept my gesture of a handshake, or me, deliberately getting out of the way to avoid him," the President said.
"And you can tell it by just looking at the body language of the people. You would know. Because I did not want to create a scene, an awkward situation, I just stayed on the sidelines. That's the truth, I was avoiding an awkward situation, especially an international awkward behavior."
The President was unable to participate in the gala dinner hosted by Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kucynzski, the traditional family photo of Apec economic leaders, and the Apec leaders' retreat.
When first sought for his reason why he skipped some of the events, Duterte reasoned out last November, "My stomach was not good and I could have exploded anytime."
Last September, Duterte was also a no-show at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' bilateral meeting with Obama. (Sunnex)