The Philippines–Sri Lanka relations refers to the bilateral relationship between 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 ...

and the

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by ...

History

Pre-Colonial

Philippines Sri Lanka relations began even before the respective countries were colonized by Spain and Portugal. Genetic studies point to the Philippines being the destination of immigrants from South Asia (Sri Lanka included). The proliferation of Sanskrit and Tamil words in Filipino languages show the influence South Asia had in the establishment of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in the Philippines. The epic of Ramanaya which is set in Sri Lanka has a localized version named Maharadia Lawana, performed among the

Maranao people The Maranao people (Maranao language, Maranao: ''Bangsa'' ''Mëranaw''; Filipino language, Filipino: ''mga'' ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranaw, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is a predominantly Muslim Filipino people, Filipino ethnic groups of the ...

. Migration wasn’t only one way though, Sri Lanka received Lucoes trader-immigrants (People from

Luzon Island Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, a ...

at the Philippines), as Lungshanoid pottery from Luzon was excavated from Sri Lankan burial sites. Sri Lanka was also part of the

Chola empire The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

, an empire which conquered parts of

Srivijaya Srivijaya (), also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important ...

in South East Asia and would possibly have connections to the Philippines. Sri Lumay, a half Tamil and half Malay prince of the Chola Empire settled in the Visayas and founded the Rajahnate of Cebu.

Colonial Era

During the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines, people from South Asia were captured as slaves, but those slaves mostly came from the parts of Bengal and South India. However, there were slaves from Sri Lanka and those slaves interacted with the Minnanese,

Tagalogs The Tagalog people are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Philippines, particularly the Metro Manila and Calabarzon regions and Marinduque province of southern Luzon, and comprise the majority in the provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, N ...

and Kapampangans of Central Luzon. During the 19th century,

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 ...

, a national hero in the Philippines, visited

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

(which was under British Rule) in May 1882. He travelled on boarding on the Djemnah which was a French Ship as the journey to

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Ceylon would improve his knowledge of French. Rizal arrived in Point De Galle which he described as " A tropical vegetation formed by elegant palm." Rizal visited the Oriental Hotel and Temple of the Buddha which for the first time, saw how Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhists prayed. Rizal also Visited Colombo which a suit in the

Grand Oriental Hotel Grand Oriental Hotel or GOH (also previously known as the Taprobane Hotel) is a 3 star heritage hotel, located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. History The original building on the site was a simple, single-storey structure with open verandah to the st ...

was named after him.

Post-Colonial

Formal Diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Sri Lanka were established in January 1961 with the Philippines opening a diplomatic mission office in

. Sri Lanka has a

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

-level mission based in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

with the Philippines. The diplomatic missions of both countries in

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 ...

and

were elevated to embassies in 1964 and 1966, respectively. However, both countries decided to close their embassies on June 30, 1993. In September 1998, Sri Lanka reopened its diplomatic mission in Manila, driven by an interest to coordinate with the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

based in

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

. The Philippines, as a founding member of the

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

(ASEAN), also contributed to the decision to reopen its embassy. To commemorate positive bilateral relations, Sri Lanka gave an elephant named Mali to the Philippines, which is now being cared for by the City Government of Manila through the Manila Zoological and Botanical Gardens. The Philippines maintains an honorary consulate in Sri Lanka.

Economic relations

There are 400 to 500

Overseas Filipino Workers 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 ...

stationed in Sri Lanka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philippines-Sri Lanka relations

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Bilateral relations of Sri Lanka