The Embassy of the Philippines in Santiago is the

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 denotes ...

of the

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which ar ...

to the

Republic of Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Oce ...

. Opened in 1981, it is currently located at Calle Félix de Amesti 367, northeast of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

proper in the city of

Las Condes Las Condes is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. The area is inhabited primarily by upper middle- to high-income families and is known in the Chilean collective consciousness as home to the country's e ...

, Santiago Province.

History

The Philippines did not initially open a resident mission in Chile when diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1947 — the first Southeast Asian country to do so. While Chile opened its embassy in Manila in December 1967, the Philippine Embassy in Buenos Aires initially represented the Philippines in Chile, with Ambassador

Luis Moreno Salcedo Luis Moreno Salcedo (September 5, 1918 – March 5, 1988) was a Filipino diplomat. In a career spanning four decades (1946-1985) he made important contributions to Philippine diplomacy and the Philippine foreign service. First, he served with d ...

being accredited to Chile on March 23, 1963. A resident Philippine embassy in Santiago would not be opened until 1981, during the presidency of

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...

, when Rodolfo A. Arizala was appointed the Philippines' first resident ambassador to Chile. Notably, when Arizala arrived in Santiago on August 21, 1981 to assume his post, he was initially billeted at the Hotel Carrera by the central

Plaza de la Constitución A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

, which today houses the offices of Chile's

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, while scouting locations for the chancery and ambassadorial residence. The hotel manager, a retired general who in his youth had played basketball against

Ambrosio Padilla Ambrosio "Paddy" Bibby Padilla (; December 7, 1910 – August 11, 1996) was a Filipino basketball player, lawyer, and an elected member of the Senate of the Philippines. He was one of the most important figures in Asian basketball developme ...

during the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

as part of its men's basketball team and who had since befriended him, offered the hotel as his residence for the duration of his tenure at a significant discount. In 2016, a number of groups led by the Fundación Daya organized a protest outside the embassy against the policies of President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

and the

Philippine Drug War The Philippine drug war, also referred to as the Philippine war on drugs, is the intensified drug policy, anti-drug campaign initiated during Duterte administration, the administration of Rodrigo Duterte, who served as President of the Philipp ...

, which they also organized again the following year as part of a worldwide campaign to reform global drug policy.

Staff and activities

The Philippine Embassy in Santiago is currently headed by Ambassador Celeste S. Vinzon-Balatbat, who was appointed to the position by President

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

on November 2, 2022. Prior to becoming Ambassador, Balatbat, a career diplomat, served as Consul General at the Philippine Consulate General in Nagoya. Her appointment was confirmed by the

Commission on Appointments The Commission on Appointments (, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by the 1987 Constitution. Whil ...

on December 7, 2022, and she presented her credentials to Chilean President

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean politician and the President of Chile since 2022. He previously served two four-year terms as a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies. Boric first gained prom ...

on April 25, 2023. The Santiago mission is one of the Philippines' smaller diplomatic missions, with only seven staff members. Many of the embassy's activities center around promoting Filipino interests and strengthening cultural and economic ties between the Philippines and Chile, particularly considering the country's relatively small number of resident Filipinos. These include donating books on Philippine history and culture to a number of local libraries, organizing cultural exhibits and lectures on

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...

at the

University of Santiago, Chile The University of Santiago, Chile (Usach) () is one of the oldest public universities in Chile. The institution was born as ''Escuela de Artes y Oficios'' (Spanish: ''School of Arts and Careers'') in 1849 by Ignacy Domeyko, under the government ...

, and promoting the Philippines as a tourist destination for Chileans. However, while it does conduct outreach to the local community, results can be mixed: it was reported that no Filipinos in Chile voted in the 2016 general election in the first week of voting, although bad weather may have played a role. In addition to activities in Chile, the embassy exercises jurisdiction over

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, where it has conducted outreach activities to provide consular services to Filipinos based in the country. It also previously exercised jurisdiction over

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

until 2024, with the opening of the Philippine Embassy in Bogotá.

References

External links

Official website of the Philippine Embassy in Santiago
{{Diplomatic missions of the Philippines Buildings and structures in Santiago, Chile Diplomatic missions in Chile S

History

Staff and activities

See also

References

External links