--- description: The Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte, has said "F-ck you" to the European Union after it called for a halt to his brutal drug war title: Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte Responds to E.U. With Profanity image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd59d6f345f1aa2/6988a6e9f887dc2463e977f8/gettyimages-5994466761.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Launches Profanity-Laden Tirade at the E.U. ## Video: President Obama on The Philippines' War on Drugs [Watch (HLS stream): President Obama on The Philippines' War on Drugs](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PWkg2HZX.m3u8) (0:46)  _Published 2016-09-05. Obama asked his staff to assess whether it would be productive for him to meet with Rodrigo Duterte in the light of the comments._ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 21, 2016 4:04 AM CUT  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a press conference at the airport in Davao City, in southern Philippine island of Mindanao, on Sept. 5, 2016, prior to his departure for Laos to attend the ASEAN summit Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a press conference at the airport in Davao City, in southern Philippine island of Mindanao, on Sept. 5, 2016, prior to his departure for Laos to attend the ASEAN summitAFP/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 21, 2016 4:04 AM CUT The Philippines’ foul-mouthed President, Rodrigo Duterte, has said [“F-ck you” to the E.U.](http://globalnation.inquirer.net/145189/fuck-you-eu-duterte "undefined") after it called for a halt to the brutal extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and drug users in the Philippines. “I read the condemnation of the European Union against me. I will tell them f-ck you,” he said in an address to government officials Tuesday in the southern city of Davao, according to the _Philippine Daily Inquirer_. He also raised his middle finger during the speech. Duterte said that the imperial histories of European nations meant that they had no right to criticize his spiraling drug war. “And then the European Union now has the gall to condemn me. I repeat it, f-ck you,” he said, according to the _Inquirer_. Duterte’s war on drugs has seen more than 3,000 people killed since he was inaugurated on June 30, and has drawn widespread condemnation from global rights groups. The Philippine leader is known for making deeply offensive remarks. [Most recently](http://time.com/4483650/obama-duterte-son-of-a-whore-asean/ "undefined"), he called U.S. President Barack Obama a “son of a whore” — a slur that led to a cancellation of a scheduled meeting of the two men at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Laos in early September. \[[_Philippine Daily Inquirer_](http://globalnation.inquirer.net/145189/fuck-you-eu-duterte "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4502332/rodrigo-duterte-eu-profanity-philippines-drugs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4502332/rodrigo-duterte-eu-profanity-philippines-drugs/"},"headline":"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Launches Profanity-Laden Tirade at the E.U.","datePublished":"2016-09-21T04:04:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:43:40.190Z","description":"The Philippine leader's war on drugs has seen more than 3,000 people killed","url":"https://time.com/4502332/rodrigo-duterte-eu-profanity-philippines-drugs/","keywords":["Philippines","Drug War","Rodrigo Duterte"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd59d6f345f1aa2/6988a6e9f887dc2463e977f8/gettyimages-5994466761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd59d6f345f1aa2/6988a6e9f887dc2463e977f8/gettyimages-5994466761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PHILIPPINES-US-DIPLOMACY-ASEAN","caption":"PHILIPPINES-US-DIPLOMACY-ASEAN","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4502332/rodrigo-duterte-eu-profanity-philippines-drugs/","name":"Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Launches Profanity-Laden Tirade at the E.U."}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Obama on The Philippines' War on Drugs","description":"Obama asked his staff to assess whether it would be productive for him to meet with Rodrigo Duterte in the light of the comments.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PWkg2HZX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-09-05T15:08:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PWkg2HZX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4502332/rodrigo-duterte-eu-profanity-philippines-drugs/","duration":"PT46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4502332/rodrigo-duterte-eu-profanity-philippines-drugs/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```