OVERVIEW OF PHILIPPINE-BRITISH BILATERAL RELATIONS

Background RP-UK Relations

      Linkages between the United Kingdom and the Philippines go back to 1579 when Sir Francis Drake reached Mindanao on board Golden Hind on his circumnavigational voyage. He reaches Plymouth after 2 years and 9 months. In 1686, British adventurers like Captain Swan and the chronicler William Dampier also reached the island of Mindanao with trade opportunities in mind. In 1760, Alexander Dalrymple was sent by the East India Company from Madras to Sulu to open trade relations with the Sultan and conclude a provisional treaty of friendship and commerce. In 1762, the East India Company sent Rear Admiral Cornish with several ships and a land force led by General Draper to attack the Spaniards occupying Manila, an offshoot of the war between two colonial world powers. Britain established a foothold in the country’s political center for two years, even forging an alliance with Filipino rebel leader Diego Silang whose forces were fighting the Spanish regime. The British-Spanish conflict ended in 1764, and before the British withdrawal, Dalrymple held the post of deputy governor of Manila for several months. 

      The more lasting foundation for an enduring British-Philippine relationship were laid down in the first half of the 19th century by outstanding men of commerce and enterprise like John Farren, the first British consul in Manila, whose mandate was “to secure free labour sugar to replace the loss of West Indian sugar after the passage of a bill in Parliament emancipating slaves in those British colonies”; and Nicolas Loney of Plymouth , who helped spur the economic development of the Philippines through his involvement in the sugar industry. 

      Successive developments during the latter half of the century gave added impetus to the Philippine-British commercial ties. In March 1855, the port of southern city of Iloilo in the Visayas was opened to foreign commerce. In 1876, surveys were commissioned by the Spanish colonial government for the construction of a railway line from Manila to Dagupan. The plan was approved in 1884, and the bidding to construct it was won in 1885 by the British firm Manila Railway Company Ltd., incorporated in London. In December 1887, the first railway spikes were driven in Tondo, and in late 1893, the railway line was finished. More than a century later, a similar major infrastructure project agreed upon by the Philippine and British governments would portend economic benefits especially for the Philippine rural areas: the construction of steel bridges linking underdeveloped communities in Mindanao to centres of commerce and education, with the potential to help reduce poverty, raise the overall quality of life, and thus make a vital contribution to the peace process in the region.

RP-UK Diplomatic Relations

      Formal diplomatic relations were established between the Philippines and the UK 04 July 1946, but earlier political alliances were already evident in the course of two world wars in which both countries fought on the same side. 

      During the last decade, relations between the two countries have been marked by a keeper British interest in the Philippine economic and political developments, as shown by a sharp rise in development assistance, the number and frequency of high-level visits to Manila, and the significant increase in the volume of trade and investments. Increasingly, too, the UK has been relying on the professional expertise of thousands of Filipino workers to fill up critical gaps in the delivery of services exemplified by the influx of Filipino nurses whose skills and professional dedication have made them a welcome addition to the National Health Service. 

      The era in RP-UK relations was inaugurated in 1986 with the visit of the British Parliament’ Foreign Affairs Committee to Manila to express support for the newly installed government of then President Corazon Aquino. In 1988, Sir Geoffrey Howe, then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, visited Manila to conduct a review of bilateral relations with the Philippines. In 1989, then RP Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus visited the UK, the first Philippine ministerial-level official to do so, and met with Sir Geoffrey Howe. In 1990, His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester visited Manila accompanied by 17 members of the British Consultants Bureau, and conferred with then President Aquino. In 1994, the Right Hon. Kenneth Clarke, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, went to Manila to look into the country’s economic situation and survey its financial services. Then, in 1995, former President Fidel V. Ramos made the first official trip of a Philippine chief executive to the UK. His visit resulted in the signing of nine private sector agreements. This was followed by a working visit to London and Edinburgh in 1997, during which further agreements were signed, and the level of political and economic cooperation between the two countries raised anew. 

      In the last half decade, the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the UK further blossomed with the visit of President Macapagal Arroyo to the UK in January 2002. Again, in September 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited the United Kingdom, during which she met with CEOs and senior officials of major UK-based companies, two members of the Royal Family, and UK-based NGOs and discussed ways of advancing cooperation between the Philippines and the UK. She returned to London in December, 2007 to further build on the growing trade and tourism exchanges taking place between the two countries. She met Queen Elizabeth II during this visit and enlisted the support of parliamentarians in promoting closer Philippine-British relations.

      High-level British visitors to Manila during the last several years included Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd, the Rt. Hon. Baroness Chalker of Overseas Development, the Rt. Hon. Lord Fraser for the Department of Trade and Industry, Secretary of State for Defence Michael Portillo, the Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hanley, Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Royal Highness the Duke of York, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, Minister for London and Construction Nick Raynsford, the Rt. Hon. John Battle, Minister of State at FCO, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ben Bradshaw, Deputy Head of Southeast Asia of FCO Richard Powell, and Parliamentary Under Secretary Meg Munn of FCO, among others. 

      In December, 2008, a delegation from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Philippines composed of its Chairman, Mark Pritchard MP, former Environment Minister Elliot Morley MP, and  Graham Stewart visited Manila and Davao upon the invitation of the Department of Foreign Affairs. They were able to call on President Arroyo and meet separately with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, House Speaker Nograles, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon, among others.  

      A delegation from the Philippine Senate visited London and Cardiff last 5 to 10 July 2009 upon the invitation of the Lord Speaker and the House of Commons Speaker John Bercow. The delegation was composed of Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II, and Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson. They met with the chairpersons of the House of Commons’ Select Committees on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Immigration Minister Phil Woolas, the Lord Speaker, and the House of Commons Speaker Bercow, among others. The Senate delegation also travelled to Cardiff to observe the devolved Wales regional government.  

      While the Senate Delegation was in the UK, the two governments held the first Philippines-UK High-Level Meeting in London on 2 July 2009. DFA Undersecretary Enrique Manalo led the Philippine delegation while FCO Minister for Southeast Asia, Ivan Lewis MP, led the British delegation during the closing session. The meeting discussed the various issues and projects that the two governments will address and undertake during the next few months. The High-Level Meeting is expected to be a regular feature of the bilateral relationship in order to provide guidance and direction towards its progress. 

       
Commonalities 

      Bilateral relations between the Philippines and the United Kingdom are very strong. Politically, both are strong democracies, with a very active and engaged civil society keen on participative and transparent governance. Both are also committed to upholding a rules-based international order. This strong commitment and adherence of both countries to human rights, individual initiative, and to the role played by civil society in political and development issues have also made dialogue between both countries smooth and with no major irritants. 

      Their most distinctive commonality is the fact that both are island economies. Like the British, the Filipinos are learning to view the bodies of water around them not as barriers but as waterways to the world. Development of this aspect of relations is being pursued: both countries have launched several maritime cooperation programs. The leading role of the UK as a trading nation, and the importance of the Philippines to the UK arising from its geographic location and its sea lanes, means that the UK’s economic, political and security interests are constant in the Philippines. The Philippines accounts for 20% of the world’s seafarers and has one of the biggest capacities of bottoms. Conferences convened in the Philippines, such as the “ASEAN-EU Maritime Security Conference” to tackle the problem of archipelagic sealanes and other maritime security concerns are actually supported by the UK. 

      The strong commitment for democracy of both countries in times of crisis reveals their convergent values: the Philippines was the last defense of the allies in WWII, without which their common enemy would have reached Australia. Nationals of both countries fought side by side in the Korean War and both sides suffered some of the highest number of casualties. 

      The present fight against terrorism makes the Philippines and the UK natural partners in political cooperation, with the UK, playing a central role in building and maintaining the global coalition, and the Philippines, as the most prominent stakeholder in Asia in this fight against terrorism, have again perfectly convergent interests. Moreover, because both countries clearly perceive the need to address the deep-rooted grievances that give rise to extremism, like poverty, the sense of deprivation, whether economic, cultural or social, they are natural partners in bringing the coalition forward towards achieving a more sustainable peace. 

      Partnerships with non-governmental organizations constitute an important part of this relationship, especially for development assistance. Three UK NGOs have active presence in the Philippines: Opportunity International, Coral Cay Conservation, and the Prince of Wales Business Leaders’ Forum. 

      Opportunity International, an NGO specializing in micro-finance, established the first micro-finance bank in the Philippines. Its biggest operations are in the Philippines, accounting for 40% of its portfolio, aspiring to reach about 1,000,000 families by 2005. 

      Coral Cay Conservation, specializing in environmental protection (coral reefs and rainforest conservation), runs on volunteer work. Its biggest operations are in Palawan and Negros. It is also currently executing work for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Anilao. 

      The Prince of Wales Business Leaders’ Forum, an organization that promotes corporate social responsibility and addresses socio-economic needs in developing countries, currently undertakes projects in the Philippines provide business assistance to Muslim companies and provide corporate mentoring for young Muslims. 

      The Philippines and the UK are natural partners, by their common belief in free market principles. The UK has had a long economic presence in the Philippines, dating back to the 17th century.

 
Some key but not so well known milestone facts about the UK in the Philippines: 

• It established the sugar industry in the country
• It introduced the railway system
• It built the first waterworks
• It installed the first telecommunications lines
• It pioneered some of the first ferryboats
• It established the earliest trading companies
• It is one of the first in banking, insurance, pawnshops, betting, etc.

Some key factors about the Philippines in the UK are: 

• There are approximately 250,000 Filipinos in the UK; 60% are professionals; 5% to 10% are second generation Filipinos; 10% are in domestic services:
• The Philippines, among all foreign countries, sends the biggest number of nurses to the UK to ease its health crisis. Filipino nurses in the UK are estimated to number 30,000.
• The Filipinos in the UK could very well constitute one of the most important markets for telecom companies selling phones cards for overseas calls.
• The Philippines is the 3rd largest English-speaking country in the world, after the US and the UK.
• The biggest imports from the Philippines are electronic components which are used for UK export products.

Philippine Priority Sectors  

      The Philippines identifies the following sectors as priority for foreign investments under its Medium Term Development Plan:  

• Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services
• automotive
• electronics
• mining
• health care and wellness
• tourism
• shipbuilding
• fashion garments
• jewellery
• agribusiness

      The Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s has identified the following sectors as priority for attracting investments from the UK, Ireland and Iceland:

 
1. Mining  

      The Philippines is rich in mineral resources particularly in gold and copper. The Mining Act of 1995 liberalized the mining industry by allowing the entry of foreign mining firms and by granting a package of incentives to investors.

 
2. Renewable Energy Sources 

      The Philippines is aggressively pushing for the development of its indigenous renewable energy sources. Under the Philippine Energy Plan, the Government aims to exploit indigenous energy resources to reduce energy imports and eventually make the country self-sufficient in energy sources. Reforms are under way to encourage private sector participation and investments in the development of renewable energy. The passage of House Bill 1068, otherwise known as “An Act to Promote the Development, Utilization, and Commercialization of Renewable Energy Sources” is expected to speed up the development of renewable energy resources by giving fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to renewable energy developers.

 
3. BPO 

      The Philippines is fast emerging as a favourite destination and hub in Asia for outsourcing of information and communication technology (ICT) and business process (BP) owing to its IT-trained, English-speaking, high quality and cost-effective workers and modern ICT infrastructure. 

      The Philippine government grants incentives to outsourcing companies engaged in ICT. In addition, international connectivity, multi media infrastructure and deregulated telecommunications industry are in place to promote the Philippines as a top destination for business process outsourcing. 

4. Tourism Infrastructure and Facilities 

      The Philippine Government encourages foreign investment in tourism-related projects such as tourist accommodation facilities, tourism estates, historic-cultural heritage projects and tourist bus operations. Foreign investments on these projects are entitled to BOI incentives. 

Profile of the Filipino Community in the UK 

      There is a significant Filipino population in the United Kingdom. Over the past twenty years, the number of Filipinos living and working in the UK has increased by more than 833% from roughly 18,000 in 1986 to about 250,000 in 2009. Of this number, about 70% live in Greater London area. 

      The Filipino community works in a variety of sectors, ranging from IT, aviation, education, hospitality sector (hotels, restaurants and casinos) and healthcare, chefs, and house managers. Increasingly, Filipino engineers and information technology experts have been recruited to the UK in significant numbers. Over the past five years, about a hundred of these engineers have been working in the aeronautical and avionics companies in the servicing and maintenance departments while others have been working for railway companies. 

      Since 2001, several dozen IT experts have been working with British telecommunication companies such as Vodafone, T-Mobile, and Orange in software development, as well as with computer companies working on e-commerce solutions. 

      Perhaps the Filipino community is best known for the contribution it makes to the healthcare sector. Filipino nurses are consistently recognized for their high standards of professionalism. In the past six years, more than 20,000 Filipinos were recruited into the health service, most of whom are nurse serving in the National Health Service while the remainder are working in the independent healthcare sector – mostly private nursing homes. 

      A survey conducted amongst a limited sample of Filipinos (British-Filipinos) yielded some interesting findings: 

• 65% of Filipinos are nurses and/or in the allied medical fields
• Less than 10% are in domestic service
• A growing number of entrepreneurs of about 5%
• 10-20% are second-generation youths, many of whom are finishing university courses

      To date, there are about 100 Filipino community associations/charities in the UK that are registered with the Philippine Embassy. There are four widely circulated community newspapers: Filipino International, Philippine Express International, Filipino Observer and Planet Philippines. A more recent addition is Euro Filipino Journal. 

List of bilateral agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) 

• Air Services Agreement
• Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and Capital Gains
• Social Security Agreement
• Agreement on the Promotion and Protection of Investments
• Reciprocal Radio Licensing Agreement
• Debt Agreement of RP to UK
• Agreement on Certain Commercial Debts
• Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation
• GBP 50 million Concessional Financing Arrangement
• Memorandum of Understanding on Combating Child Abuse
• Memorandum of Understanding on Women’s and Children’s Protection Course
• RP-UK Action Agenda
• RP-UK National Roads Bridge Replacement Project (ATP) Grant 2001
• RP-UK Agreement on the Hiring of Filipino Nurses
• RP-UK Agreement on the Recognition of Certificates under Regulation 1/10 of the STCW Convention
• MOU on Collaboration in Power Sector Development and Sustainable Energy Research and Development and Technology Transfer
• RP-UK Memorandum of Understanding on Healthcare Cooperation

      The two governments are expected to commence negotiations for a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty and an Extradition Treaty in the later half of 2009. A new Air Services Agreement was recently agreed upon during negotiations that took place in London from 7-8 July 2009, replacing the 1955 ASA signed the two governments.