Duterte kicks off historic Israel visit
President Rodrigo Duterte kicked off on Sunday his historic visit in Jerusalem, a move that seeks to affirm his "friends to all, enemies to none" policy.
The visit, the first by a sitting Philippine president, will include a meeting with Israeli leaders and an attendance to the inauguration of a Holocaust memorial site.
The trip comes as the Middle East continues to be gripped with tensions over a longstanding territorial dispute between Israel and Palestine that has turned the region into a flash point.
"We consider this visit extremely important. We consider it a historic visit and we hope to transform this historic relationship and this enduring friendship into a more vibrant and stronger partnership," Philippine Ambassador to Israel Nathaniel Imperial told state-run Radio Television Malacañang.
"We consider this a new phase of our relationship with Israel. This is an important landmark visit. No Philippine president before ever dared visit this country. But now things have changed. We have a very close relationship with Israel and its people," he added.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said Duterte's landmark visit to Israel won't hurt the Philippines' ties with Arab countries that do not recognize the Jewish state.
"We are aware of certain sensitivities... I believe we have reached a stage of maturity in our relations that they understand each one of them," DFA Undersecretary Ernesto Abella said in a recent press briefing.
"We have multilateral relations, and as we pointed out, we are friends to all and enemies to none... It should not serve as an obstacle with our ongoing bilateral relationships with each of these nations," he added.
The Philippines is the only Asian country to support a United Nations resolution that created Israel. Its vote broke the tie at the UN that paved the way for the establishment of the state of Israel.
Israel was formed after the UN adopted a resolution dividing Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in 1947. The resolution also placed Jerusalem, an important religious site for Jews, Christians and Muslims, under international control and administered by the UN.
The UN resolution was opposed by Palestinians who regarded it as an attempt to drive them away from the area.
Duterte will start his four-day visit by meeting with about 1,400 members of the Filipino community to update them on the developments in the Philippines. Israel hosts about 28,000 overseas Filipino workers.
Today, Duterte will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss ways to boost cooperation in labor, tourism, trade, agriculture, counter-terrorism, security and law enforcement.