Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is to visit the Philippines later this month as part of a regional familiarisation trip and to boost bilateral ties, officials in Manila said today.

Badawi is expected to meet with President Gloria Arroyo during his eight-hour trip on Jan 20, the foreign office said.

It will be Badawi's first visit to Manila since he took over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad in October last year.

The Malaysian government is helping to mediate in the decades-old conflict between Manila and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the country's main Muslim insurgent force waging a rebellion in the southern Philippines.

Malaysian peace monitors are expected to be deployed to the troubled south ahead of peace talks expected to take place later in January. - AFP