РУССКИЙ
23:56 04.06.2026 •
Half a century ago the President of the Republic of the Philippines Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. visited Moscow. He was warmly received in the Kremlin by the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Leonid Brezhnev. During the visit on June 2, 1976, a Joint Communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the Republic of the Philippines was signed. The document was signed by President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Nikolai Podgorny.
With that consequential meeting, the Republic of the Philippines and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - predecessor of the Russian Federation - chose the path of a formal and cooperative relationship, on the basis of the mutual negotiation of our respective national interests. This broadly shifted Philippine foreign policy, until then defined by the Cold War in the postwar period, from a simple reliance on a balance of power, to a more complex and nuanced preference for non-interference and peaceful coexistence with all nations.
On a mission of hope and friendship, President Marcos, Sr. also traveled to Leningrad and Volgograd, and then proceeded to Tashkent in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.
But long before this historic day, our two countries were already nurturing people-to-people relations. In 1722, a strategy had been presented to Peter the Great to “explore the Far East via India and the Philippines to establish trade links”. This would become reality 95 years later, in 1817, when Emperor Alexander I sent the Irish-American businessman Peter Dobell to Manila to open the first Russian consulate in Southeast Asia.
Dobell's mission was short-lived. The 250-year-old Manila-Acapulco galleon trade — that forerunner of globalization — had ended only two years prior in 1815, and the commercial conditions he had hoped to exploit had already begun to shift. Yet Russian interest in the Philippines persisted and deepened. In 1819, the painter Mikhail Tikhonov arrived with the Golovin expedition, capturing Philippine life in vivid detail; Vasily Vereshchagin followed in 1901.
Between them, in 1872, the remarkable Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay — explorer, ethnologist, and staunch defender of the equality of indigenous peoples — visited the Philippines to study the anthropological features and customs of the Aeta Negritos. These were not the visits of empire; they were the visits of curiosity and respect.
Filipinos, for their part, have always prized the sincerity of friendship over the strictures of politics and ideology. Nowhere is this more evident than in the hospitality we have extended to Russians in their moments of greatest need. After the First World War, the Philippines received some 800
Russian refugees from Vladivostok. After the Second World War and the Chinese Revolution, the Philippines stood virtually alone in the world: according to records of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, only the Philippines answered the international distress call of 6,000 Russians stranded in Shanghai, offering them sanctuary on Tubabao Island in Samar.
The Filipinos opened the Immaculate Conception Church for Orthodox masses; the Russians reciprocated in kind, singing for Catholic services and sharing their gifts of music and ballet with their hosts. It was an exchange as unrehearsed as it was profound.
Through it all, and up to now, occasionally with doubt, but always with genuine curiosity and even conviction, Filipinos and Russians have sought each others’ friendship.
Marcos Sr. and Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev provided us with their pragmatic vision of a world where nations, however different they may be, can live and thrive together in respect and amity. Today, amidst geopolitical turbulence worldwide, the Philippines continues to champion constructive dialogue and diplomacy, engaging with all nations to keep communication lines open and seek common interests.
Towards this end, we have continued dialogue with our Russian counterparts, conducting our 13th and 14th Political Consultations in Manila in 2024 and in Kuala Lumpur last year following the East Asia Summit. We also conducted the 3rd and 4th meetings of our Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Manila in 2023 and in Moscow last year. The meetings were results-oriented, seeking to take advantage of our complementary strengths, including in energy security, food security, and health security.
Meanwhile, we continue to encourage people-to-people exchanges to further strengthen the foundation of our relations, whether through cultural cooperation, academic exchanges, or tourism. We welcome direct air connectivity between our countries in this regard: last year, Russia’s IrAero Airlines began charter flights from Irkutsk and Khabarovsk to Boracay Island, our prime tourist destination.
We also hope to sustain high-level official engagements. After Marcos Sr. in 1976, President Fidel Ramos, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President Benigno Aquino III and President Rodrigo Duterte all visited Russia in 1997, in 2009, in 2012 and in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
This year is even more significant because during the Philippines’ chairship of ASEAN, Manila will highlight the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) in July. Many countries still wish to accede to the treaty, recognizing ASEAN as a model for regional peace and stability. We recall that it was during the very first year of Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov’s tenure as Foreign Minister in 2004 when the Russian Federation became the first high contracting party to the treaty from beyond our region. We hope that the commemoration of this landmark treaty will bring to the fore the values and principles enshrined in the TAC, which the Philippines has consistently and purposefully advocated for: the settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means; renunciation of threats or use of force; non-interference in the internal affairs of one another; friendly and effective cooperation; and mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations.
Remembrance is important. It is essential to honor anniversaries, not only to reflect on how far we have gone together through the years, but to also dare how farther still we could go, with a combination of experience, hope, and plain hard work.
On this golden jubilee, animated by the same hope and friendship that inspired the Philippines to reach out to Russia leading to 02 June 1976, we look forward to realizing the full potential of our relationship, giving life to the symbolism of anniversaries toward concrete benefits for the best interests of both our peoples, as well as for the wider regional and global communities.
It is with pleasure and honor that I greet Filipinos and Russians as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations - Mabuhay ang pagkakaibigang Pilipinas at Rusya!
read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs
