Duterte arrives, though not all thrilled he’s here

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte arrived in Israel Sunday with a senior Likud MK recommending taking an anti-nausea pill to stomach the visit, the Opposition leader saying the trip should be kept “low profile,” and a protest planned for his meeting Tuesday with President Reuven Rivlin.

The controversial Duterte is known primarily for a ruthless war on drugs in his country — with critics saying the government has executed thousands of people — and for a series of undiplomatic quotes, including one Thursday when he said rape will continue as long as there are beautiful women.

“It would have been more comfortable to receive a president here who had not made the kinds of comments we have heard, and it might be that we have to taken a pill against nausea to receive him – in any event he is here, and we cannot ignore it,” Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Avi Dichter said on Kan Bet.

Opposition head Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) called Duterte a “very problematic person,” and said in a radio interview that the four-day visit should be “very low profile.”

And Tag Mahir, an NGO that defines its mission as battling against racism and supporting democratic values, is organizing the protest against Duterte.

The group, which sent a letter to Rivlin asking him not to meet Duterte, said that president of the Philippines  is a “racist and antisemite who is suspected of murder and other grave crimes.” The group said that it’s calls to Rivlin “not to meet this man or give his acts or statements legitimacy – went unanswered.”

Since taking office in June 2016, Duterte has taken 16 trips abroad, including three visits to China, twice to Japan and Singapore, and once to India, Peru, Russia, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

Duterte began his four-day visit here Sunday evening with a speech at a Jerusalem hall attended by hundreds of the estimated 28,000 Filipinos working in the country, some 24,000 of them believed to be working in the care professions.

Duterte, at the airport in Manila before setting off, said concern for their welfare, and for the welfare of Filipino workers in Jordan – where he will travel to on Wednesday – was a major reason for his visit.

“We have about 28,000 Filipinos [in Israel], and 48,000 in Jordan . Without mentioning anything, there is a volatile situation, and we have to be sure our citizens are fully protected,” he said.

Duterte,  who said the Philippines supports a two-state solution, added: “With more than two million Filipinos working in that region [the Middle East], I intend to emphasise the great importance that the Philippines attaches to maintaining peace and stability there.”

This will be the first ever visit to Israel and Jordan by the president of the Philippines, and Duterte said they are “landmark visits that underscore our vision for our country — a responsible member of the world community — a Philippines that is a friend to all and an enemy to no one.”

He said that he wanted to have a “robust relationship” with Israel in a number of fields, including defense and security, law enforcement, economic development, trade and investment.

The Manila Times reported that Duterte is considering buying equipment from Israel for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go said the head of the coast guard and other PCG officials will be among the 400-person delegation Duterte is bringing to israel. He said that the government has allocated the equivalent of some $56 million for new equipment – such as ships, patrol boats and weaponry.

Israel began selling military equipment to the Philippines, according to the Stockholm International Peace research Institute, in 2015 – a year before Duterte took office – when it sold $6 million worth of weapons to the southeast Asian country. That number dropped to $4m in 2016, but went up to $21m in 2017.

In addition to defense issues, the Manila Bulletin reported last week that the Israeli firm Ratio Oil Exploration Ltd. Is expected to sign an oil exploration deal for a license in Philippine waters.

Ratio Oil Exploration holds a 15% share in the Leviathan gas field off of Israel’s coast, and has a number of licenses for exploration in other areas of the world. The deal with the Philippines has been in the works for some three years, and is awaiting a green light from Duterte.

Duterte is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, followed by a visit to Yad Vashem.

In 2016 Duterte caused outrage when he compared his war against drugs to Hitler’s war against the Jews. He quickly apologized for that comment in a speech at a Manila synagogue, saying that he did not mean to dishonor the memory of the Jews killed in the Holocaust, and noting that his first wife of 25 years, Elizabeth Zimmerman, is a Jewish-American.

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