New Zealand–Philippines relations
![]() | |
![]() New Zealand |
![]() Philippines |
---|
New Zealand–Philippines relations (Māori: Te whanaungatanga o Aotearoa me Piripīni; Filipino: Ugnayang Nuweba Selandiya at Pilipinas) refer to bilateral relations between New Zealand and the Philippines. The Philippines has an embassy in Wellington and 2 other consulates, one in Auckland and in Christchurch and New Zealand has an embassy in Manila. Both countries are members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
Background
Both New Zealand and the Philippines are countries wherein people of European and Austronesian descent live together with each other. As is the case with the British living alongside the Austronesian Maori in New Zealand, and the Spanish with the Austronesian Malay-Filipinos in the Philippines.[1][2][3][4] They also have common Native American influence: as Polynesians in the Pre-Columbian era brought back from the Americas: Sweet Potatoes and Native Americans who were settled in New Zealand during the Polynesian contact with people from the Americas.[5][6] Likewise, with the case of the Philippines, the Spaniards carried over: Mexican,[7] Colombian, Venezuelan, Chilean, Argentine, Costa Rican,[8] and Peruvian[9] soldiers and colonists to the Philippines during the era of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.[10] Eventually, both New Zealand and the Philippines were Allied Nations to the United States during the Second World War.[11]
Military relations
New Zealand and the Philippines fought together during the Korean War (1950–1953) under a UN-led police action to counter a North Korean invasion of South Korea.
During the course of the Cold War, New Zealand and the Philippines were both part of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization from 1954 to 1977.[12] The Royal New Zealand Air Force has also conducted exercises in the Philippines.
In February 2025, The Philippines and New Zealand are working towards finalizing a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) within the year. This agreement aims to bolster defense and security cooperation between the two nations amidst increasing geopolitical tensions, particularly in the South China Sea.
New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines Peter Kell stated that this VFA would facilitate joint military exercises, training, and other forms of defense collaboration. Philippine Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. emphasized the significance of the agreement in strengthening regional stability and responding to shared security challenges.
The initiative aligns with the Philippines' broader efforts to enhance ties with like-minded nations to ensure sovereignty and peace in the face of growing Chinese aggression in the region. Once completed, the VFA will serve as a framework for mutual defense and capacity-building activities between the Philippines and New Zealand.[13]
Economic relations



New Zealand's total exports to the Philippines in 2010 amounted to about US$475 million representing a 30% increase from 2009 making the Philippines one of their major export market.[14]
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario made a two-day official visit to New Zealand upon the invitation of Foreign Minister Murray McCully. The Secretary noted the increasing business activities between the Philippines and New Zealand as more companies in both countries explore and engage in business and investment opportunities in the dairy, information technology, geothermal and other sectors.[15]
State visit
In October 2012, President Benigno Aquino III made a state visit to New Zealand. He witnessed the signing of three bilateral agreements meant to further strengthen diplomatic relations between Manila and Wellington. The signing followed a bilateral meeting between President Aquino and Prime Minister John Key, both held at the Parliament Building. The accords deal with a reciprocal working holiday scheme, defense cooperation and geothermal energy.[16]
Police assistance
In 2009, the New Zealand Police was helping the Philippine National Police combat methamphetamine.[17] The New Zealand Police also helps in providing training to the Philippine National Police.[18]
Migration
In 2013, there were over 40,000 Filipinos residing in New Zealand.[19]
The 1936 New Zealand census found six New Zealand residents born in the Philippines, and the country's intake of Filipino students began to increase in 1960, under the Colombo Plan; however, even as late as 1981, there were only 405 Filipinos in New Zealand. It would take until the 1990s before highly populated regions such as Wellington and Auckland (especially the suburbs of Henderson and Mount Roskill) began to see exponential growth in their respective Filipino communities.[20] The communities themselves are known for their many Philippine-related celebrations, particularly the celebration of Philippine Independence Day every year on the Sunday nearest to 12 June. In April 2008, New Zealand's embassy indicated that they would like to increase the intake of nurses and engineers from the Philippines.[21]
See also
References
- ^ "ESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO PRIMERO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish)" (PDF). 1893. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ ESTADISMO DE LAS ISLAS FILIPINAS TOMO SEGUNDO By Joaquín Martínez de Zúñiga (Original Spanish)
- ^ "Estadística del Padrón de Españoles Residentes en el Extranjero (PERE)". INE Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 1 January 2024.
- ^ "An Admixture Approach to Trihybrid Ancestry Variation in the Philippines with Implications for Forensic Anthropology". ResearchGate. August 2018.
- ^ van Tilburg, Jo Anne (1994). Easter Island: Archaeology, ecology, and culture. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- ^ Bassett, Gordon; et al. "Gardening at the Edge: Documenting the limits of tropical Polynesian kumara horticulture in southern New Zealand" (PDF). New Zealand: University of Canterbury. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011.
- ^ "In 1637 the military force maintained in the islands consisted of one thousand seven hundred and two Spaniards and one hundred and forty Indians." ~Memorial de D. Juan Grau y Monfalcon, Procurador General de las Islas Filipinas, Docs. Inéditos del Archivo de Indias, vi, p. 425. "In 1787 the garrison at Manila consisted of one regiment of Mexicans comprising one thousand three hundred men, two artillery companies of eighty men each, three cavalry companies of fifty men each." La Pérouse, ii, p. 368.
- ^ "Filipinos In Mexico’s History 4 (The Mexican Connection – The Cultural Cargo Of The Manila-Acapulco Galleons) By Carlos Quirino
- ^ "Second Book of the Second Part of the Conquests of the Filipinas Islands, and Chronicle of the Religious of Our Father, St. Augustine" (Zamboanga City History) "He (Governor Don Sebastían Hurtado de Corcuera) brought a great reënforcements of soldiers, many of them from Perú, as he made his voyage to Acapulco from that kingdom."
- ^ "Orden de enviar hombres a Filipinas desde México" (Consejo de Indias España)(English Translation from Spanish original: "Royal Decree to the Count of Coruña, Viceroy of New Spain, informing him that, according to information from Captain Gabriel de Rivera who came from the Philippines, on a journey made by Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo to the Cagayan River some Spaniards were lost, and that to make up for this lack and populate these islands it was necessary to take up to two hundred men to them. The viceroy is ordered to attend to this request and send them from New Spain, in addition to another two hundred that were entrusted to him from Lisbon."
- ^ Martin, Chris (2011). World War II: The Book of Lists. Stroud: The History Press. pp. 8–11. ISBN 978-0-7524-6704-7.
- ^ "Milestones: 1953–1960 - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ "Negotiating a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement | Ministry of Defence website". www.defence.govt.nz. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ "New Zealand eyes more business partnerships". Inquirer Global Nation. 18 February 2011. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014.
- ^ "Philippine-New Zealand Relations take another step forward". DFA. 23 August 2012.
- ^ "Philippines, New Zealand ink 3 bilateral pacts". Inquirer Global. 23 October 2012.
- ^ "NZ police take drug fight offshore". Television New Zealand. 5 September 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
- ^ New Zealand Aid Programme
- ^ "Ethnic Group (detailed total responses)", 2013 Census, Statistics New Zealand, 15 April 2014
- ^ Walrond, Karl (21 September 2007), "New Zealand Peoples: Filipinos", Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, ISBN 978-0-478-18451-8, archived from the original on 5 May 2008, retrieved 11 April 2008
- ^ "New Zealand needs Filipino nurses", GMA News, 7 April 2008, retrieved 11 April 2008
External links
Media related to Relations of New Zealand and the Philippines at Wikimedia Commons
- New Zealand Embassy Manila