Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte occupied center stage on the eve of the summit Monday when he made comments about Obama that included a “son of a bitch” remark.

He was again in the spotlight Tuesday when he trooped into a conference hall in the Laotian capital of Vientiane wearing a traditional Filipino shirt with sleeves rolled up, and hands in pant pockets. The other male Southeast Asian leaders were dressed in dark business suits. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi wore a mauve traditional dress.

Filipinos wear the “barong” shirt on formal occasions too, but with sleeves buttoned down at the wrists. Rolled-up sleeves are considered too casual for any formal setting, let alone a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. Duterte rolled his sleeves down and buttoned them when Laotian President Bounnhang Vorachith gave a speech to open the summit.

“Multifaceted security challenges have occurred in many parts of the world, such as terrorism and extremism, natural disasters, climate change, migration crisis, trafficking in people, territorial disputes and armed conflicts,” Bounnhang said. “At the same time, although the global economy has gradually recovered, growth remains slow and fragile.”

“There is a need for us to closely follow these developments and continue to enhance ASEAN cooperation and collaboration with the international community,” he said.

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