PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte says he will be raising the issue of piracy when he visits Malaysia to complete his Asian tour.
“I am going there to complete my tour and discuss piracy because we have this piracy going on every now and then,” Duterte told reporters in Davao City Thursday night.
He made his statement even as Malacañang said Friday Duterte’s Japan trip yielded US$1.8 billion in business-to-business deals.
“These are not government contracts but private-to-private joint undertakings,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez also signed a P6.4-billion loan agreement with Japan to finance the Philippines’ purchase of coast guard vessels to patrol the country’s borders.
“These coast guard vessels are going to be used against illegal fishing,” he said.
During his trip to Brunei, Duterte committed to joint air patrols to fight terrorism and piracy in the waters of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Duterte has previously visited Indonesia where he discussed security issues with his counterpart Joko Widodo.
