President Rodrigo Duterte revealed on Tuesday the presence of a terrorist group led by a Singaporean in Sulu province.

In his departure speech at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 for Cambodia and Singapore on Tuesday, Duterte said an issue he would discuss with his Singaporean counterpart is defense and security cooperation.

"I will also discuss further increasing the levels of two-way trade and investments with Singapore as I seek to strengthen defense and security cooperation to address traditional and emerging threats that undermine progress," he said.

"In Sulu now, there’s a group there, the extremist maybe ISIS, which is led by a Singaporean," Duterte added.

Duterte said there were also Malaysian and Indonesian terrorists in the island province of Sulu, stronghold of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.

"You'd be surprised that a Singaporean, as a nation with a very strict criminal laws and yet they are able to nurture a cell there of terrorists. Countering terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization will be the key areas of discussion as well as the war on illegal drugs," he said.

Before going to Singapore where he will undertake a state visit, Duterte will first go to Cambodia for a state visit.

In both visits, Duterte said he would meet key business leaders to identify mutually beneficial areas of partnership in order to enhance bilateral trade and investments.

Duterte said his trips to two Southeast Asian nations are part of the Philippine hosting of the ASEAN Summit next year.

"I have to go around the ASEAN countries and get the wherewithal to formulate our own policies during the plenary sessions," he said.

Cambodia and Singapore are among the 10-member countries of ASEAN.

In the same speech, Duterte lauded US President-elect Donald Trump on his decision not to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was initiated by outgoing President Barack Obama.

He said it was good the Philippines did not qualify to TPP because the local law allowing generic medicines in the country would be junked.

He said the Philippines could no longer sell generic medicines, which are much cheaper, because one of the conditions under TPP is to utilize branded medicines.

"I am glad that Trump said that he will throw to the garbage can the TPP. Otherwise, we’d still create a lot of problems for all of us here in Asia. We are promoting generic because we are a poor nation and we can buy the medicines at costs sa India and Pakistan," he said.

"And yet there is a damper which says that we cannot if we are a member of the TPP. You cannot sell. You still have to go to the branded ones, the multinationals, which are very expensive," Duterte said. Celerina Monte/DMS