Duterte to visit Japan for 3rd time later this month

May 15, 2019

President Rodrigo Duterte is set to visit Japan later this month, his third since he assumed office in 2016.

In an interview on Wednesday, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said he has not yet seen the agenda of the President's trip to Tokyo.

"But definitely (the trip) will push through," he said.

Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said Duterte will be in Japan on May 29 to 31.

Duterte will attend the 25th Nikkei Conference on the Future of Asia.

Lopez could not say if a meeting between Duterte and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would take place.

Japan is the biggest source of the Philippine official development assistance and one of its major trading partners.

The two countries are also strategic partners.

Duterte first visited Japan in October 2016 and a year after, during the same month, he went there. Celerina Monte/DMS