France and the Philippines: A shared history

In recent years, cooperation and collaboration between France and the Philippines have grown continuously in all areas thanks to decades of joint efforts by both countries to deepen and expand their links. It was on June 26, 1947 that the Treaty of Amity was signed between the French Republic and the Republic of the Philippines, becoming the first bilateral agreement concluded between the two countries and which formalized French-Philippine diplomatic ties after France opened a diplomatic mission in the Philippines in Manila in 1946. France’s first extraordinary envoy to the Philippines was Gas- ton Willoquet, Ambassador from 1946 to 1949. He is the author of several works, including “Histoire des Philippines” which was published by the French University Press, and who inspired the Treaty of Amity of 1947. After this initial treaty, other bilateral agreements in the fields of culture, tourism, higher education, agriculture and defense followed, setting out a legal framework that allowed for their bilateral cooperation to flourish. Over the past few years, this cooperation has remarkably developed through, in particular, high-level bilateral visits including the first visit of a French Prime Minister to the Philippines in 2012, the visit of the Philippine President to France in 2014, and the reciprocal state visit made by the President of the French Republic to the Philippines in 2015 - the first time a French Head of State visited the archipelago. On this occasion, on Philippine soil and under the initiative of the French President, a new momentum was given which created the conditions for the success of the Paris Climate Conference, or COP21. Indeed, on February 26, 2015, French President François Hollande and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III jointly launched the “Manila Call to Action on Climate Change,” an ap- peal for the international community to conclude a climate agreement during COP21, thereby giving a new, specific impetus to France-Philippine cooperation within the multilateral framework. Moreover, the mobilization of French companies established in the Philippines and the strong potential offered by the booming Philippine economy, as well as the growing relations between French and Filipino civil societies involved in promising forms of cultural, scientific, technical, academic, or tourism cooperation and exchanges, are equally strong drivers behind the dynamic and diversified partnership between France and the Philippines. After celebrating the 70th year anniversary of French-Philippine relations last year, the future holds much promise for France and the Philippines to intensify their cooperation in the institutional level and to continue bringing the French and Filipino people closer together.