MANAMA, Bahrain – President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to arrive here Wednesday night (early Thursday morning in Manila), making him the first head of the Philippine government to visit this small Arab monarchy in the Persian Gulf in eight years.
For this visit, said Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain Alfonso Ver, President Duerte will be meeting with His Majesty, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain with whom he will have bilateral talks. He is also slated to sign five to six agreements which includes the establishment of the High Joint Commission which will be the forum and the mechanism where the entire range of relationships between Bahrain and the Philippines will be discussed.
Also to be inked during Duterte’s visit here are amendments to the double taxation and air services agreements, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Foreign Service Institute of the Philippines and the Diplomatic Institute of the Bahrain Foreign Ministry, and a business investment agreement between private companies from both countries.
The signing of these agreements, said Ver, will further strengthen the already very close and warm relations between the Philippines and Bahrain and their peoples, and reaffirms the Duterte administration’s support and our commitment for the protection of the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers. (Roy C. Mabasa)