White House officials previously said Obama would confront Duterte about his country's handling of drug dealers, including extrajudicial killings, which are government executions without the benefit of judicial proceedings.

"Who does he think he is? I am no American puppet. I am the president of a sovereign country and I am not answerable to anyone except the Filipino people," Duterte scoffed in a speech Monday. "Son of a bitch, I will swear at you."

Obama and Duterte had been set to meet in Laos this week, where Obama is attending a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders.

Obama instead will meet on Tuesday with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea.