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Despite these claims, images from the dinner quickly revealed that Duterte was not, in fact, seated next to Obama or Ban.

The apparent move may have saved Duterte some awkward small talk and Philippine officials later told the Associated Press said that Obama and Duterte did speak informally at the event.

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However, it remains unclear why the Philippine president thought he would be sitting next to Obama and Ban.

Just a few days ago, Duterte had used the Tagalog term "putang ina" in threatening to curse Obama if he raised the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines' fight against drug dealers. That phrase means "son of a bitch" or "son of a whore." Shortly after the comments were reported, the White House canceled a scheduled meeting with Duterte. The Philippine president later said that he regretted that his comments "came across as a personal attack."

Duterte has also criticized Ban for his comments about the extrajudicial killings, and last month he threatened to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations, saying that the organization had made a "very stupid" proposition. Again, the Philippine president later said he was only joking, but this week, Duterte said he would not meet with the U.N. secretary general at the ASEAN summit as he had "no time."

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Early Wednesday, however, Duterte's press service announced that the Philippine president would meet both of these men for the first time at a dinner that evening — because he would be seated next to them.

"Presidents Duterte and Obama will be seated next to each other, which expectedly, will focus all cameras on them to deliver to the world the encounter of the two. Incidentally, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also seated on the other side of President Duterte," the president's office said in a statement, according to Rappler.

Asked how the meeting with Duterte and Obama might go down, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told reporters: "It's difficult to speculate, but certainly they will have their drinks and food together."