The

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

has a network of

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

s in major cities around the world, under the purview of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), to forward Philippine interests in the areas that they serve, as well as to serve the ever-growing numbers of

Overseas Filipinos An overseas Filipino ( fil, Pilipino sa ibayong-dagat) is a person of full or partial Filipino origin—i.e., people who trace back their ancestry to the Philippines but living or residing outside the country. This term generally applies to b ...

and

Overseas Filipino Worker Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million be ...

s. Although the Philippine diplomatic mission network is wide, there are embassies that are accredited to other nations without Philippine diplomatic posts. The network as of January 2022 consists of 63 embassies, 26 consulates-general, 4 permanent missions to international organizations, and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taipei, and its two extension office. Excluded from this listing are honorary consulates, branches of the

Sentro Rizal The Sentro Rizal is a Philippine government-sponsored organization whose main objective is the global promotion of Filipino art, culture, and language. Established by virtue of the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009, its headquarters is locate ...

, overseas offices of the Department of Tourism, and trade missions (with the exception of MECO, which serves as the Philippines's

de facto embassy A ''de facto'' embassy is an office or organisation that serves ''de facto'' as an embassy in the absence of normal or official diplomatic relations among countries, usually to represent nations which lack full diplomatic recognition, regions or ...

to Taiwan).

History

Although attempts at initial diplomatic relations were made during the Philippine Revolution and the time of the

First Philippine Republic The Philippine Republic ( es, República Filipina), now officially known as the First Philippine Republic, also referred to by historians as the Malolos Republic, was established in Malolos, Bulacan during the Philippine Revolution against ...

, most nations have established diplomatic relations with the Philippines only in the years after the country achieved independence from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1946. The first documented instance of a diplomatic mission of the Philippines being established abroad was that of the embassy in Tokyo, which was opened by the

Second Philippine Republic The Second Philippine Republic, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines ( tl, Repúbliká ng Pilipinas; es, República de Filipinas; ja, フィリピン共和国, ''Firipin-kyōwakoku'') and also known as the Japanese-sponsored Phi ...

, a puppet state of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, on March 24, 1944 with

Jorge B. Vargas Jorge Bartolomé Vargas y Celis (August 24, 1890 – February 22, 1980) was a Filipino lawyer, diplomat and youth advocate born in Bago, Negros Occidental, Philippines. He graduated valedictorian from Negros Occidental High School in 1909 and ...

as its first ambassador. However, the mission was summarily closed with Japan's defeat in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and as it was never recognized by the pre-war

Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines ( es, Commonwealth de Filipinas or ; tl, Komonwelt ng Pilipinas) was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 ...

, the oldest continually-operating Philippine diplomatic mission is that of the embassy in Washington, D.C., replacing the office of the

Resident Commissioner of the Philippines The resident commissioner of the Philippines () was a non-voting member of the United States House of Representatives sent by the Philippines from 1907 until its internationally recognized independence in 1946. It was similar to current non-voti ...

after the country achieved independence from the United States on July 4, 1946, and led by

Joaquín Miguel Elizalde Joaquín Miguel Elizalde y Díaz (August 2, 1896 – February 9, 1965) was a Filipino diplomat and businessman. Personal life Elizalde was born on August 2, 1896 in Manila, the eldest child of José Joaquín Elizalde (who was the Philippine-b ...

as its first ambassador. This was followed shortly thereafter with the establishment of the permanent mission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. A number of missions were opened in the first years after independence. In his 1947 State of the Nation Address (SONA), President

Manuel Roxas Manuel Acuña Roxas (born Manuel Roxas y Acuña; ; January 1, 1892 – April 15, 1948) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of the Philippines, who served from 1946 until his death due to heart attacks in 194 ...

announced that missions in a number of other cities were also opened aside from the embassy in Washington, D.C.; these included the first consulates general in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, as well as consulates in

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Additional missions were opened the following year, including the first missions in Europe (in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) and Latin America (in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

). By 1952, the Philippine foreign service had grown to encompass missions in 11 countries, and by 1965 grew further to missions in 36 countries worldwide. The Philippines' diplomatic presence grew significantly during the presidency of

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

, spurred in part by the normalization of relations with the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

in the early 1970s. Philippine diplomatic missions were present in 43 countries by 1978, with additional missions opening the following year, particularly in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. By 1981, there were 63 countries worldwide hosting Philippine diplomatic missions. Several missions, however, would be closed at the tail end of the Marcos presidency and in the years thereafter as part of a series of cost reduction programs. Another expansion of the country's diplomatic presence took place during the presidency of

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

, with 67 countries hosting Philippine diplomatic missions by the end of her presidency. This, however, was not without controversy: in 2010 Senator

Franklin Drilon Franklin Magtunao Drilon (born November 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and former politician. He had the longest tenure in the Senate of the Philippines (tied with Lorenzo Tañada, Tito Sotto and incumbent Loren Legarda), having served four no ...

questioned the need for embassies in countries with small Filipino communities, calling for a review of the Philippines' diplomatic presence worldwide. Arroyo's successor,

Benigno Aquino III Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III (; February 8, 1960 – June 24, 2021), also known as Noynoy Aquino and colloquially as PNoy, was a Filipino politician who served as the 15th president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016. The son of ...

, then announced two years later the closure of ten posts (seven embassies and three consulates general):

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

;

Koror Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state. History In the oral tradition ...

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

;

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

;

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

;

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

;

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

;

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

;

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

;

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

. The closures have since been largely reversed under Aquino's successor,

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

, as the consulate in Barcelona was set to reopen by 2019 after the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

passed a resolution urging the DFA to do so. On 24 September 2018, the consulate general in Houston was reopened, 25 years after its closure, while the consulate general in Frankfurt was reopened on 15 January 2019, and the embassy in Stockholm was reopened on 11 May 2020. On January 14, 2019, the Philippines opened its first resident embassy in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, the first new embassy to open since 2012, while the first new consulate to open since 2012 opened in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on December 1, 2020. In recent years, the government has announced its intention to open new missions, including new embassies in Colombia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Panama, and Ukraine, as well as reopening the embassies in Cuba, Ireland, and Palau.

Current missions

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Multilateral organizations

Gallery

File:Embassy of the Philippines in Bandar Seri Begawan.jpg, Embassy in Bandar Seri Begawan File:Philippines Embassy Bangkok.jpg, Embassy in Bangkok File:Philippinische_Botschaft,_Luisenstraße,_2019-12-07_ama_fec_(3).jpg, Embassy in Berlin File:Embajada de Filipinas Buenos Aires 3.jpg, Embassy in Buenos Aires File:L'Haia ambaixada filipina.jpg, Embassy in The Hague File:Embassy of the Philippines in London 1.jpg, Embassy in London File:Madrid - Embajada de Filipinas 1.jpg, Embassy in Madrid File:Embassy of the Philippines in Mexico City (Avenida Thiers 111).jpg, Embassy in Mexico City File:Moscow, Karmanitskiy lane 6 8, embassy of Philippines.JPG, Embassy in Moscow File:Embassy_of_the_Philippines_in_Ottawa.jpg, Embassy in Ottawa File:Ambassade des Philippines en France.jpg, Embassy in Paris File:Senovazne namesti 8 Praha 6333.jpg, Embassy in Prague File:Embassy_of_the_Philippines_in_Santiago,_Chile.jpg, Embassy in Santiago de Chile File:Embassy of the Philippines in Singapore.jpg, Embassy in Singapore File:Philippine_Embassy_in_Stockholm,_Grenstigen.jpg, Embassy in Stockholm File:Embassy of the Philippines in Tel Aviv.jpg, Embassy in Tel Aviv File:Embassy of the Republic of Philippines in Tokyo.jpg, Embassy in Tokyo File:Nagoya 20210207-38.jpg, Consulate-General in Nagoya File:Ambasada Filipiny.jpg, Embassy in Warsaw File:Embassy of the Philippines, Washington, D.C..jpg, Embassy in Washington, D.C. File:Consulate of the Philippines in San Francisco.jpg, Consulate-General in San Francisco File:Philippine Embassy in Wellington.jpg, Embassy in Wellington

Closed missions

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Multilateral organizations

Notes

References

External links

* {{Foreign relations of the Philippines

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Diplomatic missions A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

History

Current missions

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Multilateral organizations

Gallery

Closed missions

Africa

Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Multilateral organizations

See also

Notes

References

External links