The Philippines will seek to strengthen its ties with its “newly found old friend” Russia by exploring opportunities in the areas of vaccine, defense, space and energy cooperation as the two countries celebrate the 45th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In her speech during the Philippines-Russia Teleconference on Bilateral Relations Tuesday, May 25, 2021, Foreign Affairs Acting Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations Elizabeth Buensuceso underscored the enormous potential of the ties between Manila and Moscow which have seen “dramatic reinvigoration” under President Duterte.

“Likewise, Filipinos are no longer held in thrall by how Hollywood and the Western media portray Russia and the Russians. They (the Russians) are like a newly found old friend, in that both Filipino and Russian peoples, to a great extent, believe in the same God and have similar family-centric values,” Buensuceso said.

While both countries are battling the coronavirus pandemic, Buensuceso said the Philippines look at Russia as a “reliable partner” on vaccine procurement and the possible establishment of local manufacturing in the country.

She took the opportunity to thank Russia for delivering the initial 30,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine early this month.

“Vaccine cooperation with Russia is not only limited to the COVID-19. Philippines and Russia could participate in joint cooperation projects for producing vaccines for other viral diseases in the future, especially when the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines is established,” she added.

On defense cooperation, the DFA official sees a vast potential for collaboration in counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and cyber terrorism, drug trafficking, data analysis on crime prevention and disaster risk reduction and management. This is on top of the agreements on defense cooperation and military technical cooperation signed as a result of President Duterte’s visit to Russia in 2017.

Buensuceso also presented possible space cooperation with Russia following the establishment of the Philippine Space Agency in 2019 as she expressed the country’s interest in developing joint activities with state-owned space corporation Roscosmos and its subsidiary, Glavkosmos.

While the Philippines is working to enhance its energy security, the DFA undersecretary pitched that Russian investments and technology can greatly contribute to diversifying the country’s energy resources, including oil and gas explorations and nuclear energy.

“Russian companies may wish to participate in the Philippine oil and gas exploration and development through the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP). The Philippines and Russia could also cooperate on the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Buensuceso said.

She narrated that relations between the Philippines and Russia actually began in 1813 when Russian Emperor Alexander I, through Peter Dobell, an Irish-American businessman, established the Russian Consulate in Manila, the first Russian mission to promote relations between Russia and the Far East.

But under modern diplomatic relations, official ties between the Philippines and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were established on June 2, 1976.