Duterte’s trip to Israel to go ahead, says DFA

President Rodrigo Duterte’s planned visit to Israel will push through within the year, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Tuesday.

Cayetano said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was looking at September or October to set the President’s visit to Israel and other country’s in the Middle East.

Cayetano said there should be no controversy about the Mr. Duterte’s planned visit to Israel even if it previously admitted that it might cause a stir. Israel has been a known destination of Filipino workers.

It was Special Assistant to the President Secretary Christopher “Bong” Go who disclosed that the President will become the first Filipino leader to visit the Gulf country, but Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said he would rather let DFA release details about the trip.

In 2016, Duterte was criticized internationally when he compared his war on drugs to Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, saying: “Hitler massacred 3 million Jews … there’s 3 million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”

“It’s really part of our being friends to all, enemies to none. Our friendship with Israel goes way back so I don’t expect any controversy with the trip,” he told reporters in a chance interview.

“We believe very much on the rights of the Palestinians and we also believe on the right of the State of Israel to exist. The Philippines has been consistent on this,” he added.