THE Philippines and Israel have signed at least three agreements during President Rodrigo Duterte's historic visit to the Jewish state.
On Monday, September 3, Duterte had a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Israel.
The two leaders witnessed the signing of memorandum of agreement on the temporary employment of home-based Filipino caregivers, memorandum of understanding on scientific cooperation, and memorandum of intent on the collaboration on promotion of bilateral direct investment.
Duterte told Netahnyahu that the Philippines was willing to extend any help to Israel.
"We share the same passion for peace. We share the same passion for human beings. But we also share the same passion of not allowing our country to be destroyed by those who have a corrupt ideology of almost nothing but to kill and destroy," he told Netanyahu.
Netanyahu acknowledged the Filipino caregivers' impeccable service.
The Israeli Prime Minister even recalled that his late father, Benzion Netanyahu, had received "incredible" care by a Filipina caregiver with an "exceptional compassion and intelligence" to attend to his father's need.
"I -- like many, many families -- am deeply moved by this humanity," Netanyahu said.
"And today we're gonna sign an agreement that would knock off as much as $12,000 in the cost of every caregiver. This is good money that is taken away from the caregivers and the families, the Israeli families they so long deserve. This is an exceptional agreement," he added. (SunStar Philippines)