{"id":179261,"date":"2018-08-30T05:12:18","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T09:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=179261"},"modified":"2018-08-30T05:18:11","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T09:18:11","slug":"duterte-sign-8-deals-jordan-israel-visits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/08\/30\/duterte-sign-8-deals-jordan-israel-visits\/","title":{"rendered":"Duterte to sign 8 deals in Jordan, Israel visits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: NATIONAL ID LAW. President Rodrigo R. Duterte shows a copy of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Act after signing it during a ceremony at Malaca\u00f1an Palace on August 6, 2018. (Richard Madelo\/Presidential Photo via PNA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— The Philippines is scheduled to sign at least eight agreements with Israel and Jordan when President Rodrigo R. Duterte visits both countries from Sept. 2 to 8, a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official said Thursday.<\/p>\n

In a pre-departure briefing in Malaca\u00f1ang, DFA Undersecretary Ernesto Abella described Duterte\u2019s visits to Israel and Jordan as \u201chistoric\u201d since it will be the first by a sitting Philippine president to both countries.<\/p>\n

Duterte will be visiting Israel and Jordan upon the invitation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, respectively. He will be in Israel from Sept. 2 to 5 and in Jordan from Sept. 6 to 8.<\/p>\n

Abella said both visits will be a huge leap in the Philippines\u2019 bilateral partnerships with both countries after decades of diplomatic relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrengthening ties with these nations will promote economic growth, create new employment opportunities and enhance security,\u201d Abella said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA closer relationship with these nations means more opportunity to share expertise with each other in the fields of science, agriculture, industry and counter-terrorism,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The following agreements are expected to be signed between the Philippines and Israel:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Labor: Memorandum of agreement on the employment of Filipino caregivers
\n\u2022 Science: Memorandum of understanding on scientific cooperation
\n\u2022 Investment: Memorandum of understanding between the Board of Investments and Invest in Israel — a one-stop shop for potential investors<\/p>\n

In the future, Abella said the government expects improvements in deployment procedures and the elimination of excessive placement fees imposed on Filipino workers bound for Israel.<\/p>\n

He said the government also expects progress resulting from cooperation in the areas of science and agriculture, enhanced two-way trade and investments.<\/p>\n

The following agreements are expected to be signed between the Philippines and Jordan:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Labor: Memorandum on the employment of domestic workers and also a memorandum of understanding on labor cooperation to improve working conditions of Filipino domestic workers in Jordan.
\n\u2022 Defense: Memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation to upgrade the country\u2019s defense capabilities.
\n\u2022 Foreign affairs: Political consultations
\n\u2022 Trade and investment: Investment agreement with Jordan Investment Commission and\u00a0expect enhancement of two-way trade and investments.
\n\u2022 A mutual recognition of Standard of Training and Certification of Watchkeepers (STCW) for Seafarers<\/p>\n

PRRD aware of sensitivities<\/strong><\/p>\n

The DFA official, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Duterte\u2019s visit to Israel will not affect Philippine relations with countries that do not recognize or maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of certain sensitivities but I believe we have reached our stage of maturity in our relations that we understand each one of them — host countries who we consider partners \u2013t hey\u2019re aware also that we are in relationship with other countries like Israel,\u201d Abella said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that we strike a balance. I believe the President has proven in many, many ways again and again that it is possible to have this kind of independent foreign policy while satisfying the demands and needs of each particular relation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano reiterated the administration’s foreign policy to be “friends to all, enemy to none.”<\/p>\n

“The questions are there any repercussions by just visiting? I say we\u2019re all mature enough to know that we can be friends even with countries that have issues with each other. Do we have to exercise some sensitivities? Of course,” he told reporters in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

Cayetano said the government acknowledges there are sensitivities to be aware of, but underscored the importance of bolstering its bilateral relationship with all nations who wants a closer relationship with the Philippines.<\/p>\n

“We live in a modern and mature world. Israel knows that we\u2019re very close to many Arab countries, we\u2019re very close to Malaysia and Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, which has an Islamic majority. In the same manner that these countries know that we are friends with Israel,” he said.<\/p>\n

Data from the DFA showed that there are an estimated 28,300 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Israel as of 2017 and an estimated 40,000 OFWs in Jordan as of 2017.\u00a0(With reports from Joyce Rocamora-PNA)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— The Philippines is scheduled to sign at least eight agreements with Israel and Jordan when President Rodrigo R. Duterte …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":179262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}