Philippines–Singapore relations are bilateral relations between the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. The

has an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, 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 ...

likewise, has an

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. Full diplomatic relations commenced on May 16, 1969, when the Philippine consulate-general in Singapore was raised to embassy level. Both countries are members of

APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy , economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Following the success of Association of Southeast Asia ...

, and founding members of

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

Relations

The Philippine-Singapore Business Council is also present as an organization dedicated to the cooperation of the business communities of the two countries. The council was launched on 13 October 1994 in Singapore. Both

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military officer to reached ...

, the President of the Philippines, and

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...

, the Prime Minister of Singapore attended the launch. Aside from economic relationships, the two countries also agree in improving tourism and security relationships. In August 1986,

Philippine President The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in- ...

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

preferred to travel to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

and

, breaking the tradition that the first overseas visit of the President should always be

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. Singapore Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

, together with

Indonesian President The president of the Republic of Indonesia () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president is the leader of the executive branch of the Indonesian government and the commander-in-chief of the In ...

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

, suggested to Aquino to avoid reconciliation with the communist insurgents in her country and extend the rights of the bases of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the

. During a state visit by Philippine President

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. She is the longest-serving president ...

in 2007, she discussed the liberalization of air travel between the two countries to improve tourism. She also discussed with Singapore Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...

regarding a status of forces agreement (SOFA) to combat terrorism and transnational crimes. In 1995, a planned state visit by the

Singaporean Prime Minister The prime minister of Singapore, is the head of government of Singapore. The president appoints the prime minister on the advice and consent of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent prime minister is Lawrence Wong, who took office on 15 M ...

was postponed "until a more propitious time" after the execution of Flor Contemplacion. The case caused the most profound rift between the two

countries for more than 25 years. Economic relationships between the two countries were also strained.

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

investments in the

dropped from US$65 million from 1994 to US$3.7 million by 1995. Despite this controversy, full diplomatic relationships between the two countries were restored in January of the following year. In December 1998, the two countries signed a Philippine-Singapore Action to improve bilateral trade at the ASEAN summit in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. In 2013,

is the 4th top trading partner of the

, with $8.22 billion (₱454.97B, S$10.94B) in bilateral trade. It was also the sixth top source of visitors, with more than 175,000 in arrivals.

is also host to a Filipino community of about 180,000.

Military

In January 2017, Secretary

Delfin Lorenzana Delfin Negrillo Lorenzana, OLH, KGOR (born October 28, 1948) is a retired Philippine Army general who served as Chairman of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority from 2022 until September 2024. He previously served as Secretary of N ...

announced that he is seeking a revival of Filipino-Singaporean military exercises known as ''Anoa-Singa'', which started in 1994. It was stopped in 1996 due to a lack of a military agreement that would allow Singaporean forces to conduct exercises since the Filipino Constitution does not allow foreign troops to be deployed in the

Agreements

In 2007, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding in order to promote cooperation in

media policy Media policy or media politics refers to decisions regarding legislation and political actions that organize, support, or regulate the media, particularly mass media and the media industry. These actions are typically driven by pressures from pub ...

and information exchange. In 2008, the

Philippine government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...

voluntarily stopped the export of 50,000 tonnes of pork to

due to the cases of Ebola Reston in some farms in

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

. This export was supposed to be the

' first of pork.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Philippines-Singapore relations

Bilateral relations of Singapore