Argentina–Philippines relations

Argentina-Philippines relations

Argentina	Philippines

Diplomatic relations between the Argentine Republic and the Republic of the Philippines, have existed for decades. Both nations are members of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, Group of 77, the G20 developing nations, and Forum of East Asia-Latin America Cooperation and the United Nations.

Country comparison

Official name	Philippines	Argentina
Native Name	Republika ng Pilipinas	Republica Argentina
Coat of Arms
Flag
National Motto	Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa ("For God, People, Nature and Country")	En unión y libertad ("In Unity and Freedom")
National Anthem	Lupang Hinirang ("Chosen Land")	Himno Nacional Argentino ("Argentine National Anthem")
Population	100,981,437	44,938,712
Area	343,448 km2 (132,606 sq mi)	2,780,400 km2 (1,073,500 sq mi)
Population Density	202/km2 (520/sq mi)	14.4/km2 (37/sq mi)
Time zones	Philippine Standard Time (UTC+08:00)	Argentine Standard Time (UTC-03:00)
Capital	Manila	Buenos Aires
Established	12 June 1898 (Declaration) 4 July 1946 (Proclamation)	25 May 1810 (Declaration) 9 July 1816 (Proclamation)
Trade bloc	Association of Southeast Asian Nations	Southern Common Market
Government	Unitary presidential constitutional republic	Federal presidential constitutional republic
First Leader	Emilio Aguinaldo (official) Manuel L. Quezon (de jure)	Bernardino Rivadavia
Current Leader(s)	President: Bongbong Marcos (PFP)	President: Alberto Fernández (FDT-PJ)
	Vice President: Sara Duterte (Lakas-CMD)	Vice President: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (FDT-PJ)
Legislature	Congress of the Philippines	National Congress of Argentina
	Senate President: Juan Miguel Zubiri (Independent)	Senate President of the Senate: Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (FDT-PJ) Provisional President of the Senate: Claudia Ledesma Abdala (FDT-PJ)
	House of Representatives Speaker: Martin Romualdez (Lakas-CMD)	Chamber of Deputies Chamber of Deputies President: Sergio Massa (FDT-PJ)
Judiciary	Supreme Court Chief Justice: Alexander Gesmundo	Supreme Court President: Carlos Rosenkrantz
Religion	Catholicism: 80.6% Protestantism: 11.6% Islam: 5.6% Others: 2.1%	Catholicism: 62.9% Protestantism: 15.3% Others: 1.2%
National Language	Filipino (Tagalog)	Spanish (Argentine Spanish)
GDP (nominal)	US$1,000 billion ($7,846 per capita)	$445.469 billion ($9,887 per capita)

History

Both Argentina and the Philippines share a common history in the fact that both nations were once part of the Spanish Empire. During the Spanish colonial period, Argentina was then part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and administered from Buenos Aires while the Philippines was governed from the Viceroyalty of New Spain in Mexico City. During the Argentinian War of Independence, the Argentinian Admiral Hippolyte Bouchard recruited escaped Filipinos in San Blas (Who escaped slavery in the Manila Galleons) in a war against the Spanish Empire. In the Argentinian side, a large number of Argentinian soldiers including Juan Fermín de San Martín, brother of Argentinian Revolutionary leader, José de San Martín, were immigrants to the Philippines. Argentina's Sun of May symbol was also adopted as an emblem of the Philippine Revolution in the Republic of Biak-na-Bato and First Philippine Republic. Diplomatic relations between Argentina and the Philippines began on 27 August 1948. In April 1949, the Philippines opened a diplomatic legation in Buenos Aires. In May 1960, both nations diplomatic legations were elevated to the rank of embassy.

In July 1986, President Raúl Alfonsín became the first Argentine head of state to visit the Philippines. In October 1995, Argentine President Carlos Menem also paid a visit to the Philippines. In September 1999, Philippine President, Joseph Estrada, paid a state visit to Argentina, becoming the first Philippine head-of-state to visit the South American nation.

In September 2012, Argentine Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman, paid a visit to the Philippines and met with President Benigno Aquino III to discuss the broadening of the two countries’ relations and possible people and cultural engagements. In February 2014, both nations held the 2nd Bilateral Consultation Meeting in Manila where they agreed to further enhance bilateral trade relations.

In 2018, both nations celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations.

High-level visits

Argentine President Carlos Menem with Philippine President Joseph Estrada in Buenos Aires; 1999.

High-level visits from Argentina to the Philippines

• President Raúl Alfonsín (1986)
• President Carlos Menem (1995)
• Foreign Minister Hector Timerman (2012)

High-level visits from the Philippines to Argentina

• President Joseph Estrada (1999)
• Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario (2011)

List of representatives

Date of diplomatic accreditation	Ambassador	Observations	Philippine President	Argentine President	Term end
September 8, 1960	Pedro Gil	Ambassador	Carlos P. Garcia	Arturo Frondizi	March 1962
September 1976	Pelayo F. Llamas	Ambassador	Ferdinand Marcos	Jorge Rafael Videla	June 1981
September 1986	Sime Hidalgo	Ambassador	Corazon Aquino	Raúl Alfonsín	July 1992
April 1993	Carlos Alberto O. Villa Abrille	Ambassador	Fidel V. Ramos	Carlos Menem	2002
May 2002	George B. Reyes	Ambassador	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	Eduardo Duhalde	2006
December 28, 2009	Rey A. Carandang	Ambassador	Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	2014
2014	Ma. Amelita C. Aquino	Ambassador	Benigno Aquino III	Cristina Fernández de Kirchner	2017
August 2018	Linglingay F. Lacanlale	Ambassador	Rodrigo Duterte	Mauricio Macri

Bilateral relations

Embassy of the Philippines in Buenos Aires

Both nations have signed several agreements such as an Agreement establishing Diplomatic Relations (1948); Agreement to elevate both nations diplomatic representations to the rank of embassy (1960); Treaty of Friendship and Cultural Relations (1965); Commercial Agreement (1988); Memorandum of Understanding to promote Trade in Agricultural matters (1995); Agreement on the Suppression of visas for Holders of Diplomatic and Official Passports (1999); Agreement on the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments (1999); Agreement for the Establishment of a Mechanism for Bilateral Consultations between both nations Ministry's of Foreign Relations (2005); and a Memorandum of Understanding between the Foreign Service Institute of the Philippines and the Institute of Foreign Service of the Argentine Nation (2011).

Resident diplomatic missions

• Argentina has an embassy in Manila.
• Philippines has an embassy in Buenos Aires.

See also

• Embassy of the Philippines, Buenos Aires