Sara Duterte to attend Abe’s state funeral

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte is set to fly to Japan next week to attend the state funeral for the late former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe scheduled on Sept. 27.

Duterte said she confirmed her attendance at Abe’s funeral during her meeting with Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa yesterday.

In a statement, Duterte said that during the state funeral, she will be handing to the Japanese government letters of condolences from her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, as well as from President Marcos.

Abe once visited then president Duterte in his house in Davao City. The longest-serving prime minister of Japan until his resignation in 2020 was assassinated last month while delivering a speech at a campaign rally in Nara City. He was 67.

Meanwhile, the Vice President also expressed to Koshikawa the Philippines’ gratitude to the Japanese government for being the country’s top partner in terms of development, investment and trade from 2002 to 2021 and for being the top contributor for the Build Build Build program of her father’s administration.

Aside from Koshikawa, six other ambassadors – Peter Kell of New Zealand, Tull Traisorat of Thailand, Luc Véron of the European Union, Dr. Ali Ibrahim Al-Malki of Qatar, Shambu Kumaran of India and MaryKay Loss Carlson of the United States – also paid courtesy calls on Duterte at her office in Mandaluyong City yesterday.