WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – President Barack Obama is not giving up America’s little brown that easily, despite pronouncements in China by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte that he wants to “separate” from the United States.

In an effort to maintain the colonial and friendly relations between the two countries, Obama has invited Duterte to come to the White House for a “beer summit.”

This is not the first time that Obama has used beer diplomacy in trying to resolve important issues.

Many will recall that in 2009, Obama invited Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who was arrested at his Cambridge, Massachusetts home by local police officer Sgt. James Crowley, who was responding to a 9-1-1 caller’s report of men breaking and entering the residence. The arrest initiated a series of events that unfolded under the spotlight of the international news media.

The arrest occurred just after Gates returned home to Cambridge after a trip to China. Gates found the front door to his home jammed shut and, with the help of his driver, tried to force it open. A local witness reported their activity to the police as a potential burglary in progress. 

On July 22 that year, Obama invited both parties to the White House to discuss the issue over beer, and on July 30, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden joined Crowley and Gates in a private, cordial meeting in a courtyard near the White House Rose Garden; this became known colloquially as the “Beer Summit”.

In a Skype call with Duterte who is still in China for an official state visit, The Adobo Chronicles asked for the Philippine president’s reaction to the Obama invitation.

He said:  “I am open to meeting with that ‘son of a whore’ over beer, but I must insist that only San Mig Light will be served.

(San Mig Light is the most popular local light beer in the Philippines.)