Filipino ambassador to Việt Nam Meynardo LB. Montealegre writes for Việt Nam News on the 127th anniversary of the country's Independence Day:

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations on July 12, 1976, the bilateral ties between the Philippines and Việt Nam for the past 49 years have been nurtured through mutual respect and meaningful cooperation across all levels and through various fields, including defense and security, trade and investment, agriculture, tourism, education, cultural cooperation, and people-to-people relations.

Our diplomatic relation with Việt Nam was elevated to that of a Strategic Partnership in November 2015, paving the way for Vietnam to become the Philippines’ only strategic partner in ASEAN. Such a partnership has been deeply treasured and has grown from strength to strength through the years, especially following the state visit to Việt Nam of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in January last year.

Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre at a meeting with General Secretary Tô Lâm on April 24, 2025, at the Headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Việt Nam. Photos courtesy of the embassy

From a bilateral trade of just US$5.87 million in 1980, two-way trade between the Philippines and Việt Nam as of 2024 stood between $7.0 billion and $8.0 billion. Amidst growing protectionist policies and supply-chain uncertainties, both countries continue working to foster more beneficial market access to reach a commonly agreed target of $10 billion.

As maritime nations sharing not just a common boundary but a mutual desire to build a maritime space of peace in line with international law and the UNCLOS, the Philippines puts primary importance in maintaining robust and intensive maritime relations with Vietnam, with the objective of maintaining freedom of navigation, enduring safety of life and property and promoting peace and good order at sea.

Engagements across all levels of the defense ministries from both sides have also expanded to include the fields of military medicine, search and rescue exercises, information exchange, and defense industry cooperation. This was demonstrated through the successful meeting between Minister of Defense Gen. Phan Văn Giang and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr., as well as the inaugural port visit of the Việt Nam Coast Guard in Manila in August 2024 and the inaugural goodwill visit of the Philippine Coast Guard to Đà Nẵng in April this year.

Meanwhile, cooperation in the fields of agriculture and education also remains active. In March 2024, the members of the Philippine House of Representatives and the Senate visited several educational institutions in Hanoi to witness and learn more about the exceptional progress of Vietnam’s education sector. Philippine lawmakers were also able to interact with Vietnamese students as well as with Filipino and Vietnamese educators and sat down with officials from their counterparts in the National Assembly and the Ministry of Education and Training. This was followed by a visit of Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara in April this year, to further deepen cooperation on education matters. In July last year, Philippine Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel, Jr., visited several provinces in southern Việt Nam to learn more about Vietnam’s sustainable agriculture and irrigation system.

Tourism and commercial opportunities have also flourished, especially with the increase in the number of direct flights between our countries, further strengthening people-to-people exchanges between our countries. Aside from its long-established Manila-Hà Nội and Manila-Hồ Chí Minh City flights, the Philippine Airlines has also started its Cebu-Hồ Chí Minh City direct flights in April and will be launching a thrice-a-week flight between Manila and Đà Nẵng in July. Philippine budget carrier Cebu Pacific also has its own direct Manila-Hà Nội and Manila-Hồ Chí Minh City flights. In December 2023, it began its daily Manila-Đà Nẵng direct flights and in April this year, it also launched its Cebu-Hồ Chí Minh City route.

Our business community remains optimistic about the continued growth of the Vietnamese economy and believes that its continued rise in this new era of economic development will provide new impetus to ASEAN’s further development. Meanwhile, electric vehicles from Vinfast are gaining a foothold in the Philippine market and recently launched its Green and Smart Mobility electric taxi in Metro Manila. We look forward to more of such clean and sustainable investment ventures from Việt Nam.

Ambassador Meynardo LB. Montealegre (centre, front row) poses for a photo with Party Central Committee member and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Mạnh Cường (second from the right), along with artists from the Philippines, at a ceremony to celebrate the 127th National Day of the Philippines and the 10th anniversary of the Philippines–Việt Nam Strategic Partnership, held at the Việt Nam National Academy of Music on June 10, 2025.

For the past few years, the Philippines Embassy has been actively participating in various cultural activities that Việt Nam has organised for us to share our culture with the Vietnamese community. Last year, we invited Philippine silversmith, jewelry designer and painter Helena Alegre to showcase her handcrafted jewelry with the Vietnamese community.

With the warm reception and the encouragement of our friends from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, we have organised more cultural events to showcase the wealth of the Philippine creative industries, which also led to more collaboration with Vietnamese artists. Earlier this year, in Hồ Chí Minh City, we organised an art exhibition between two Philippine women artists and the Vietnamese artist Nguyễn Thị Tâm to share stories of how culture and women in art contribute to nation-building and fostering deeper relations.

From June 8 to 12 this year, we are holding a Filipino Food Festival featuring Filipino Chef Geramarie Dianzon to showcase a selection of classic Filipino cuisines.

At the moment, the Philippine Embassy is busy preparing for several cultural activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Philippine-Việt Nam diplomatic relations and our ASEAN chairmanship next year. We always draw inspiration from the warm encouragement by highly esteemed Vietnamese Party leaders, the unwavering support from Vietnamese government officials in the national government and various localities across the country, and the high satisfaction from Philippine leaders regarding the trajectory of our relations with the people and the government of Việt Nam. VNS