Rodrigo Duterte on potentially awkward trip to Singapore, which he once called ‘a garrison pretending to be a country’

Controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may contain his signature colourful language when he arrives in Singapore today for a two-day state visit.

“F*** you ... You are a garrison pretending to be a country,” he said in a November 2015 speech, referring to the city state.

Singapore doesn’t take too kindly to insults. In the past, the country’s leaders have sued and won damages or out-of-court settlements from foreign publications, including the International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and The Economist, for defamatory allegations.

Duterte, who met with Cambodia’s government earlier this week, isn’t expected to apologise for his previous remarks, but he may be extra cautious on this trip.

“I expect him to be on his best behaviour in Singapore,” said Murray Hiebert, Southeast Asia specialist at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

The bilateral visit is aimed at expanding business ties, deepening defence and security co-operation as well as discussing key issues facing the region, so “having fruitful discussions in these areas will require that he not set his interlocutor teeth on edge with abusive name calling,” Hiebert added.

Duterte will also be holding a session with Singapore’s Filipino residents on Friday, a common practice of his when travelling abroad. There were an estimated 140,000 Filipino workers in Singapore last year, according to Philippine statistics, many of whom are employed as domestic helpers.