MANILA – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will make a state visit to Singapore from Dec 14 to 16, according to diplomatic sources here.

There has been no official announcement of the trip thus far but Mr Duterte has been touring other Asean countries as the Philippines prepares to take over as Asean chair next year.

He was in Indonesia in September and Malaysia last month.

He has also visited Thailand – where he paid his respects to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej last month – Vietnam and Brunei. The sources said Mr Duterte will meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong while in Singapore and the two leaders will likely build on the talks they held in Laos in September.

In their half-hour meeting on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Vientiane on Sept 6, the two leaders reaffirmed the longstanding and close ties between their nations.

They also looked forward to the celebrations of the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations between Manila and Singapore in 2019.

This article was first published on Dec 03, 2016.
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