The formal diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Singapore commenced on May 16, 1969. The level-up relations are based on shared values and principles. In 2023, the Philippines’ total trade with Singapore was US$10.62 billion, with US$3.53 billion in exports and US$7.09 billion in imports. Additionally, Singapore ranked as the Philippines’ 8th largest trading partner, 6th export market (out of 205), and 7th import supplier (out of 221). There are 200,000 Filipinos living and working in Singapore, based on recent estimates.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos welcomed Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse, Mrs. Jane Yumiko Ittogi Shanmugaratnam, for a three-day state visit to the Philippines from August 15 to 17, 2024. Earlier this year, in May 2024, President Marcos Jr. invited the new Singaporean government leaders, President Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, to the Philippines.
President Marcos Jr. expressed his positive aspirations about enhancing closer ties with Singapore in defense and security, trade and investment, as well as sustainability and energy fields. He shared, “MOUs in the fields of health and maritime security are already in the pipeline and are anticipated to be finalized in the very near future.” President Marcos Jr. further elaborated that the planned signing of MOUs by the various local government units in the Philippines with their Singaporean partners, who mostly came from the private sector, will become a great private collaboration as a business-to-business cooperation.
The level-up diplomatic alliance was articulated with the various bilateral relations characterized as deep and multi-faceted, such as the MOU on Defense Cooperation, the MOU on the Recruitment of Healthcare Workers, and the MOU on Collaboration on Carbon Credits under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. This further includes the ongoing discussion on the proposed MOUs in the areas of health and maritime security.
Singapore President Shanmugaratnam demonstrated that Singapore and the Philippines are now looking at areas such as healthcare, environment, carbon credits, infrastructure, and other fields, apart from the MOU on Defense Cooperation. President Shanmugaratnam’s visit to the Philippines is his first as Singapore’s new head of state. In 2019, Madame Halimah Yacob was the last Singaporean to visit Manila.
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam was accompanied by First Lady Jane Yumiko Ittogi Shanmugaratnam. Together with them was a Singaporean delegation composed of government officials, the business community, and other important individuals. He received the arrival honors and signed the guest book in Malacañan Palace before proceeding to a bilateral meeting with President Marcos Jr.
As a recipient of the Li Ka Shing Foundation in 2021, I graduated with a with a Master in Public Administration the following year from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. The “level-up” or greater heights between the Philippines and Singapore may have some extremely opposite characteristics when it comes to features such as land area and population, among others, but undoubtedly, they always share common denominators when it comes to shared aspirations, values, principles, cooperation, and collaboration in many fields and areas.
