The State Palace will hold a welcome ceremony for Duterte at 4 p.m. followed by a bilateral meeting between the two presidents and the issuing of a joint press statement, according to a schedule released by the Presidential Press Bureau on Friday.

Duterte's visit to Indonesia has been highly anticipated by both parties. Jakarta has been aggressively lobbying Manila for the release of nine remaining Indonesian sailors held captive by the notorious Filipino group Abu Sayyaf, as well as talks on a joint maritime security operation in the region in the wake of the hijacking of several vessels.

Furthermore, Philippine citizens have high hopes that Duterte will directly appeal to Jokowi to the spare the life of Filipino death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso, who is detained in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

Prior to the meeting, Jokowi will lead a plenary Cabinet meeting at his office at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the results of his recent visits to the G20 Summit in China and ASEAN Summit in Laos. Jokowi and his subordinates will also discuss the evaluation of economic policies during the Cabinet meeting.

Afterwards, Jokowi is scheduled to visit Southeast Asia's largest textile market, Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta. No details have been released so far on what Jokowi will do at the prominent market, though he took Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull to Tanah Abang during the latter's state visit to Jakarta in November last year. (rin)

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