Duterte, Obama on good terms now?
Vientiane, Laos (CNN Philippines) — A handshake and a quick chat between President Rodrigo Duterte and U.S. President Barack Obama was all it took for both leaders to clear the air and be on good terms.
At least, that's what Philippine officials are trying to project after Duterte and Obama briefly met on Wednesday night, before attending the gala dinner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Ties between the two countries turned cold when Duterte's profane outburst against Obama last week had prompted the cancellation of their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.
Read: Duterte: I am not beholden to Obama, my master is the Filipino people
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said the two leaders have "ironed things out."
But it remains unclear what specifically they spoke about.
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who is part of Duterte's 30-member delegation in Vientiane, offered limited details on how the brief meeting happened.
“All’s well that ends well," Cayetano said in a statement Thursday. “You could see that there is an effort from both sides to patch things up."
Cayetano said as Obama made his way to a holding room for world leaders attending the dinner, Duterte was among the first to meet him and offered him a handshake.
They spoke for a few minutes, Cayetano added. But neither Cayetano nor any of Duterte's spokesmen could exactly say what they talked about.
Did President Duterte apologize? Who initiated the conversation? Are they, indeed, on good terms?
Nobody can provide the answers for now, maybe except the two leaders themselves.
Cayetano said Duterte's closest aide, Special Assistant to the President Christopher Bong Go witnessed the chance encounter.
Go, however, was unavailable for comment.
Jose said Manila and Washington are still working out when the two leaders will formally meet, after the postponement of their supposed first meeting on Tuesday.
Related: After cursing Obama, Duterte expresses regret
Duterte meets Ban
Go posted a photo on his Facebook account of Duterte shaking hands with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
There are still no available details yet on this casual meeting.
Obama and Ban are two of the most powerful leaders President Duterte publicly criticized, for their adverse opinions on his war on drugs.
And contrary to an announcement from Malacañang, Duterte did not get to sit between Obama and Ban during the ASEAN dinner.
Instead, Duterte sat between Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Secretary Martin Andanar of the Presidential Communications Office, which released the information, blamed the snafu on miscommunication.
CNN Philippines' Digital Producer Eimor P. Santos contributed to this report.
