President Rodrigo Duterte is set to visit Japan again before the end of the year, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said on Thursday.

In an interview with reporters in Pasay City, Cayetano said it will be the Office of the President which will announce when Duterte would be visiting Tokyo.

He noted that Japan has called for an election, thus, the trip could not be finalized yet.

He recalled Duterte was supposed to attend a Nikkei forum earlier, but the Marawi crisis broke out in May.

"He has a commitment with Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe (that) he'll visit Japan before the ASEAN. The problem is there's also APEC right before ASEAN. That's why we're looking at the date toward the end of the year or the first few days of November. Let the OP make the announcment once it is finalized," Cayetano said.

Duterte first visited Japan in October last year upon Abe's invitation. Celerina Monte/DMS