“We, the multiethnic people of the Russian Federation, united by a common destiny in our land…”—these are the words, with which the preamble to the Constitution of our State begins. This is how it enshrines the idea of unity and peaceful coexistence on the territory of Russia of more than 190 ethnic groups, which are granted guarantees and freedoms to preserve, explore and develop the unique cultures and native languages.
On Nov. 4, Russia celebrates the State holiday—People’s Unity Day. This date was not chosen by chance. On Nov. 4, 1612, the people’s militia led by national heroes Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, liberated Moscow from Polish invaders.
This event has a special significance for our history due to the fact that with the expulsion of invaders from the Kremlin, the long period of political instability in Russia that preceded these events came to an end.
The Russian people demonstrated an example of heroism and unity of the entire nation, regardless of origin, religion and position in society, which was commemorated on this date.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin noted, more than four centuries have passed, but this feat of valor still amazes with its powerful patriotic impulse and the fact that people themselves realized that the fate and future of their homeland is above all else.
Now, that our countrymen, while conducting a special military operation, are demonstrating the same patriotic approach aimed to protect the people of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
They voted in favor of becoming part of Russia, and to avoid provocative and bellicose policy of the Kiev regime and Western countries led by the United States, who have proclaimed a goal to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia and eliminate it as an independent player in the international arena.
RUSSIA-PHL COOPERATION
The Russian-Philippine ties are a vivid example of an open, friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation that Russia is aspiring for.
Our country has expressed its readiness to expand relations in the field of energy, agriculture, including supply of fertilizers, tourism, as well as implementation of scientific and educational projects.
The Day of Russia celebration held in Manila on June 14 this year, attracted great attention of the Filipino public.
The event was honored by the presence of Senator Aquilino Pimentel, President of the Philippines-Russia Friendship Association and Senate Minority Leader, and Charles John Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.
Antonio Morales, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines, was the guest of honor. His speech reaffirmed the rich traditions of Russian-Philippine relations and openness to enhance fruitful cooperation between our two nations.
In the year of 2024 our bilateral relations witnessed a new strengthening through active exchange of delegations and participation of representatives of both countries in international fora. Particular importance was given to the interaction between Russia and the Philippines at the inter-regional and city levels.
Gwendolyn Garcia, Governor of Cebu province, during her visit to Russia in June 2024, had fruitful talks on various fields of inter-regional cooperation with Alexander Beglov, Governor of St. Petersburg. Gov. Garcia signed with Gov. Beglov the renewed sisterhood Agreement.
In turn, in August 2024, a delegation of St. Petersburg government led by Vyacheslav Kalganov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for External Relations, paid a reciprocal visit to Cebu.
The St. Petersburg delegation took part in the One Cebu Expo, as well as the Cebu Tourism Health and Business Summit, including the celebration of the 455th Anniversary of Cebu province.
The St. Petersburg Napalkov Clinical Scientific and Practical Center for Specialized Types of Medical Care (oncological) signed the Cooperation Agreement with the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
In June this year, the Moscow City Government delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Manila Mayor’s Office and discussed the implementation of the Program of Cooperation between the two cities, signed last January 2023.
Surprisingly, the Moscow and Manila Zoos have come up with a new and rather unexpected area of cooperation through exchange of animals: giraffes, hippos and eagles, for instance. This became possible after the corresponding Memorandum of Understanding was signed last June 2024, after which relevant Philippine experts visited their Moscow counterparts.
INTERCITY RELATIONS
To enhance intercity relations, in August 2024, Cebu City Mayor Raymond Garcia and Sergey Cheremin—Moscow City Government Minister and Head of the Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations—signed the Program of Cooperation for the period 2024-2027.
Furthermore, the Cebu delegation attended this year’s International Transport Summit and the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) Municipal Forum in Moscow and signed a statement on improving transport systems.
The IV Eurasian Women’s Forum in St. Petersburg in September 2024 was attended by women leaders from 126 countries, including Armi Lopez Garcia who is the Honorary Consul of Russia in the provinces of Cebu, Bohol and Aklan. Garcia delivered a speech on the role of women in the global politics.
The visit of a delegation of Universidad de Manila led by its President Felma Carlos-Tria to Moscow and St. Petersburg in September 2024 became an example of our scientific cooperation. She met the Rector of Yury Luzhkov Moscow Metropolitan Governance University Vasilii Fiveiskiy and discussed prospects of training in the area of management and further cooperation between the two universities.
Later on, Carlos-Tria visited St. Petersburg State University and participated in the International Conference “Dialogue of Rectors: How Artificial Intelligence is Reshaping the Future of Universities and Higher Education.”
At the sidelines of the Conference, Carlos-Tria held a meeting with the Vice-Rector for International Affairs Sergey Andryushin and signed an Agreement of Cooperation between the two universities.
Undoubtedly, last year’s signing of a cooperation agreement between the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University) and the New Era University was important. It proved useful in promoting academic exchanges through the Centre for Russian Studies in Manila and the MGIMO’s ASEAN-Center. An important conference on ASEAN-Russia relations will be held on November 14, where Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, will deliver his speech.
To enhance our connectivity and tourism cooperation, Russia has proposed to resume direct flights between our countries taking into account the full support expressed by the Philippine business society and local governments.
From March to May 2024, we have seen successful experimental flights of Russia’ IrAero aircarrier from the Siberian city of Irkutsk to Manila, which could be repeated within the next months.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Russia’s foreign policy has demonstrated certain achievements during the past year.
A good example has been Russia’s 2024 chairmanship within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The CIS summit held in October 2024 in Moscow focused on economic and humanitarian cooperation, including culture, tourism, sports, science and education.
One of the highlights of the Summit was the celebration of historical landmark events of common importance to the whole Commonwealth—the 80th anniversary of the Victory in World War II and the Great Patriotic War to be celebrated in 2025. Participants emphasized the importance of the preservation of historical truth and the prevention of its falsification.
The future of the world has been discussed at the XVI BRICS Summit, held on October 22-24 this year in the city of Kazan (Russia) under the motto: “Strengthening multilateralism for equitable global development and security.”
The summit is the culmination of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship. Apart from BRICS members, it was attended by dozens of world leaders, including the United Nations Secretary General Antoniu Guterres, the leadership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Eurasian Economic Union.
There were representatives of ASEAN countries—Lao People’s Democratic Republic President Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Phạm Minh Chính, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Sugiono. More than 30 countries expressed their desire to cooperate with BRICS, whose world economy influence is growing every year.
President Vladimir Putin addressed the extended-format meeting of the BRICS Summit, and emphasized that global trade and global economy at large are undergoing significant change, with the fulcrum of business activity shifting towards the developing markets.
The economies of the BRICS nations show sufficient stability thanks to responsible macroeconomic and financial policies implemented by their governments.
The average growth in the association in 2024–2025 is expected to reach 3.8%. By the end of 2024, the share of the BRICS states in the global GDP when measured at purchasing power parity will reach 36.7%, which is easily superior to that of the G7 countries. It stands to reason that the association will keep following the trend for maintaining a leading role in the global economy.
In order to unlock the potential of the growing BRICS economies, cooperation must be expanded in a number of areas, including technology, education, efficient resource exploitation, trade and logistics, and finance and insurance, and capital investment must be increased many times over.
To that end, Russia suggests creating a new BRICS investment platform which could become a powerful tool for supporting the economies of member states.
A number of BRICS countries are among the world’s largest producers of grains, legumes, and oilseed crops. With that in mind, Russia suggests creating a BRICS grain exchange which would help form fair and predictable price indicators for products and raw materials.
Russia is in favor of expanding cooperation in the field of mineral resource management. It will be expedient to create a separate BRICS platform for precious metals, and for diamonds, since this market is heavily regulated by various trade barriers.
The Declaration adopted at the BRICS Summit underlines: “We note the emergence of new centers of policy-making and economic growth, capable to lay foundation for a more fair, democratic and well-balanced multipolar world order. The multipolarity can enhance the potential of developing countries and emerging markets unchain their constructive potential and ensuring universally beneficial inclusive and just economic globalization and cooperation. The BRICS members shall promote the use of national currencies for international financial transaction among BRICS and their trade partners.”
In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: “We have no doubt that the current problems will be overcome. All necessary decisions have already been taken. Russia, as a civilized State, will continue to defend the moral foundations of international life, to promote the principles of honesty, truth, goodness and justice in interstate communication. Reliance on the ideals common to the major religions and cultures, respect for the identity of the peoples of the world and their right to their own path of development is an essential aid in finding optimal responses to the numerous challenges and threats of our time.”
Russia is a multicultural civilization—home for hundreds of ethnic groups, languages and traditions, with their peace and prosperity being the paramount priority of the state, its government institutions and policy.
On June 2, 2026, we are going to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Russia-Philippines diplomatic relations, which have always been based on the framework of fruitful collaboration, with promising perspectives for the 21st century.