MANILA - At least 1,400 Filipinos here in Israel are set to meet President Rodrigo Duterte when he arrives in Jerusalem on Sunday night.

Duterte, who is expected to arrive at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv at 7:10 p.m. (12:10 p.m. Manila time), will go immediately to the Ramada Hotel in Jerusalem for his meeting with the Filipino community.

There are 28,000 Filipinos living and working in Israel, mostly as caregivers.

Duterte in his departure statement in Manila said that he will renew his “pledge to do (his) utmost to bring the change we desire in our country, in ourselves as a people.”

“I will ask them to continue to be our partners for growth, progress, and change,” Duterte said.

Nathaniel Imperial, Ambassador of the Philippines to the State of Israel, said in an interview that Duterte will be getting an enthusiastic treatment from the Filipinos here.

“Well, the President won by a landslide in the last elections in Israel. And they are very excited. ...Actually I promised them that the President would eventually come when his trip was postponed last year,” Imperial said. “He was supposed to come in May of last year. But because of the Marawi incident, he had to postpone his overseas travel.”

“And so this is a fulfillment of that promise. And they are very excited, they are ecstatic, and we expect a very good crowd when the President meets the Filipino community upon his arrival on Sunday,” Imperial added.