International Political Economy

Villareal, Arielle Faith R. Jumel G. Estrañero

AB Foreign Service March 17, 2018

The Political Economy of the Philippines and Singapore:

Its Challenges and Strengths throughout the Years

The Researchers goal

In time for the recent change of ASEAN leadership between the Philippines and
Singapore this research aims to discover if Singapore has been a consistent partner of
the Philippines. And to understand the dynamics of the Philippine-Singapore Relations,
its strengths, weaknesses, and threats that could potentially damage the said states. The
researcher will utilize the following methods, historical development, SWOT analysis and
critical analysis.

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 I. Introduction and Historical Background
As Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines and Singapore has been in a
bilateral agreement since 1969. And because of the passing of the ASEAN leadership,
from the Republic of the Philippines to Singapore it is timely to analyze the relationship of
the states.
1Singapore
and the Philippines has officially been in a bilateral relationship since
the 1990’s. The association was formally launched on March 9, 1990 at the Singapore
Ambassador's residence in North Forbes Park, Makati City.
And as ASEAN reached its 50th year in 2017 with the Philippines as its chair,
Philippines-Singapore ties are about to hit a milestone when we celebrate 50 years of
formal diplomatic relations in 2019. Since that time, our relations have experienced some
challenges from time to time, but not enough to disrupt what has obviously been a very
productive and fruitful relationship," said Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Antonio
Morales.
Currently, there are more than 180,000 Filipinos residing and working in
Singapore.
Both Philippines and Singapore underwent a critical dictatorship. But the results
were different. This can be seen from the replies made by the then current President Fidel
Ramos.

'I can appreciate how brushing aside obstacles to his agenda can save a lot of time for
any political leader,' Former Preseident Ramos said in remarks to the same business
meeting Friday. 'But this prescription fails to consider our ill-fated flirtation with
authoritarianism not so long ago. '
This was during 1992 when the President of Singapore suggested that freedom
should not be tolerated for the development of states and economies in South East Asia.

1 [1] “Deepening Philippines-S'pore ties” Vincent Wee, The Business Times HUB (2017): par 2.
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/hub/the-philippines-asean-50/deepening-philippines-spore-ties
Accessed 3 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 II. Statement of the Problem & Methodology

(a)To understand the relationship of Philippines and Singapore, the researcher has
formulated 3 questions that will be answered in the Analysis:

1) How did the Philippines- Singapore relations start?

2) What are the Strengths of the Philippines-Singapore relations?
3) What the challenges that it has experienced?
(b) The researcher has utilized the Basic Qualitative Research method. Along with
that, the researcher applied the following: Historical Development, to analyze the
development over the last 49 years and SWOT Analysis to discover the advantages and
disadvantages of the partnership. There are sorts of data collection methods but in this
study, necessary data were obtained from secondary sources. The secondary sources
provided information concerning the topic.
Development Research is defined as” research involving analysis of
2Historical

events that occurred in the remote or recent past.” It is used to display the progression of
a thing through time.
3SWOT Analysis is a strategic analytical tool for assessing strengths and
weaknesses of a business, analyzing opportunities available to the business, as well as,
threats faced by the business.

2 “Research” Medical Dictionary (2017) https://medical-

dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/historical+research Accessed: 3 March 2018
3 “SWOT Analysis” Research Methodology (2017) https://research-methodology.net/theory/strategy/swot-

analysis/ Accessed: 3 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 III. Review of Related Literature
Status of Philippines and Singapore

4According
to Minister for Trade and Industry Mr. Lim Hng Kiang, Singapore and
the Philippines are enjoying a close bilateral relationship, which will be a key driver for the
region to work towards closer economic integration.
Singapore is also one of the first countries to work with the Duterte Administration
despite its reputation.
5The
Philippines and Singapore are working on advancing regional economic
integration through initiatives such as the ASEAN economic community, a community that
serves as a market for the ASEAN member states, it aims to reduce or hopefully remove
many trade barriers within the region with the goal to facilitate the free movement of
goods, services, capital, and skilled labor within the bloc. It is also now considered the 3 rd
fastest growing Asian economy, next to China and India.
6TheRCEP, or the Regional Comprehensive Economic partnership, is an
agreement that enables the ASEAN member states to trade freely within the said region.
It also involves technical cooperation, dispute settlement and the like. It has the potential
to deliver significant opportunities for businesses in the East Asia region
7Singapore
also is promoting investments that will go beyond the capital city,
Manila. They are encouraging investors to go to the other major cities like Cebu and
Davao. International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, the agency that promotes international
trade and partners Singapore companies in going global, has also devoted more
resources to step up its presence in the in the Philippines.

4 “Ramos tells Singapore's Lee Filipinos have rejected dictatorship” United Press International Archives
(1992) par.3 https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/11/20/Ramos-tells-Singapores-Lee-Filipinos-have-
rejected-dictatorship/1643722235600/ Accessed: 3 March 2018

5 “Singapore, Philippines see stronger relations as ASEAN works towards economic integration: Lim Hng
Kiang” Wong Wei Han, The Straits Times (2015) par. 1
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-philippines-see-stronger-relations-as-asean-
works-towards-economic Accessed: 2 March 2018
6 “ASEAN's Economy” US-ASEAN Business Council Inc. (2017) https://www.usasean.org/why-
asean/asean-economy Accessed: 5 March 2018
7 “Singapore and Philippines moving to boost economic ties” Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh, The Straits

Times (2016) http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/singapolitics/singapore-and-philippines-moving-to-

boost-economic-ties Accessed: 5 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 8Asof 2016, Singapore is the number one trading partner in ASEAN for the
Philippines.
9Otherthan working together, Singapore also has offered drones and its urban
warfare training facilities to help Philippine troops dislodge Muslim militants still holding
up in the southern city of Marawi after nearly three months of fighting.
10Singapore
has also shown their support by delivering relief packages during the
Marawi siege to the Philippine military. The aid included comprised tents, blankets,
medical supplies, food items and water filtration devices that was donated by the
Singapore Armed Forces and the Singapore Red Cross.
11There has also been talks of defense relations between the Philippines and
Singapore during the ASEAN-US defense ministers informal meeting in Hawaii. They also
welcomed the cooperative efforts by their two militaries to co-organize Exercise
Coordinated Response 2017, a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) table-
top exercise hosted at the Changi Regional HADR Coordination Center (RHCC) which
aims to promote the sharing of best practices and enhance coordination among Asian
militaries in that field.
Only 2 months after the defense talks, the Singapore’s defense ministry
announced that have a new program to further improve the Urban warfare expertise of
the Philippines. This is a yet another manifestation of ongoing indigenous efforts among
Southeast Asian states to build regional capacity on this front. 20 troops from both
Singapore and The Philippines trained in the Murai Training facility in the southwestern
are of Singapore. This program was also used by the United States, Thai and Indonesian
armies for bilateral or multilateral army exercises.

8Singapore and the Philippines: More than just trading partners” Antonio Acunzo, Singapore Business
Review (2017) http://sbr.com.sg/economy/commentary/singapore-and-philippines-more-just-trading-
partners-0 Accessed: 3 March 2017

9“Singapore offers drones, urban warfare training grounds, aid to help Philippines fight militants in Marawi”
Raul Dancel, The Straits Times (2017) par. 1 http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/singapore-offers-
saf-assistance-to-philippines-in-fight-against-terrorism Accessed: 10 March 2018
10“Singapore Military Aircraft Delivers Terror Aid to Philippines” Prashanth Parameswaran, The Diplomat
(2017) https://thediplomat.com/2017/08/singapore-military-aircraft-delivers-terror-aid-to-philippines/
Accessed: 4 March 2018
11“Philippines, Singapore Discuss Defense Relations Amid US-ASEAN Meeting” Prashanth
Parameswaran, The Diplomat (2016) https://thediplomat.com/2016/10/philippines-singapore-discuss-
defense-relations-amid-us-asean-meeting/ Accessed: 5 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
Agreements and Programs of Singapore and Philippines
Economic
12ThePhilippines and Singapore have been working together on the Philippines
Singapore Action Plan since 1998. The PSAP serves as a comprehensive framework for
cooperation between Singapore and the Philippines in the areas of economics,
information technology, capital market development, education, culture, people-to-people
exchanges and defense. The projects outlined in the action plan are based on the
complementarity and synergy which exist between Singapore and the Philippines and
which can be realized for the mutual benefit of both countries.
The Action plan includes the development of Industrial Parks, establishing
business ventures in the Visayan and Mindanao areas, construction and modification of
ports around the Philippines, Companies in both Singapore and the Philippines have
established reputable brand names that could be marketed regionally and internationally,
the states will also work on Service training for the citizens.
The plan also included a regular meeting of officials to deliberate the current status
of the partnership, there will be exchange and meetings of Forensic Pathologists, Foreign
Ministers and the Philippine Civil Service Commission and Singapore's Public Service
Division to be able to share experiences and views in structuring and managing an
efficient and effective civil service and in human resource development.
As of 2018, the continual development of the Philippine- Singapore relations can
be seen. Through the PSAP there are now frequent people-to-people exchanges, joint
agreements in culture, joint marketing efforts in tourism and institutional linkages for IT
cooperation.
The PSAP also improved the trade in between the two states. And as of today,
The Philippines is currently Singapore’s 12th largest trading partner, with bilateral trade
totaling S$ 22.3 billion in 2010. Electronics accounts for a large proportion of bilateral
trade.
This agreement has been beneficial to a lot of OFW’s working in Singapore. Since
there are approximately 180,000 Filipinos working and residing there.
13There
is also the Philippine-Singapore Business Council, an agreement signed
during the Ramos Administration, aims to identify and develop areas of cooperation

12Philippines-Singapore Action Plan” Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Statement (1998)

www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/speeches/view-html?filename=1998121405.htm Accessed: 2 March 2018

13 “Singapore’s Foreign Policy” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore (2012)
https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/manila/about_singapore/foreign_policy.html
Accessed: 2 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
between the two states and encourage and further develop further investments, trade
links and joint exploration of business opportunities in third countries.
14As of 2017, Singaporean Ambassador to Manila Kok Li peng, said that
Singapore’s private sector is looking for more ways to explore more business and
investment ventures with the Philippines. During the 2017 PSBC conference, Mr.
Luchangco, highlights the investment potentials of Singapore companies to the
Philippines. “We can seek partnership in key industries such as producing halal food and
non-food products, investments in IT-BPM services, infrastructure, shipbuilding, tourism,
and support of start-ups.”
Security
15In
addition, The Philippines and Singapore entered into a military training
agreement - known as the Anoa-Singa bilateral exercises - in 1994. The pact allowed
armour units from Singapore to train two military camps in the Philippines and permitted
Singaporean nationals to enroll in the Philippine military Academy.
But this agreement was suspended in 1996 when lawmakers from Manila pointed
out that parts of the agreement would need ratification by the Philippine Senate because
the treaty involved foreign troops on Philippine soil.

16Singaporehas also submitted a visiting forces agreement draft in 2007 but the
progress developing the bill was slow. But in 2012, there was revival of Interest in the
Philippines for a defense pact with Singapore nonetheless it was not successful.
Hopefully this 2018 the revival will be considered. Mr Lorenzana, the Philippine
Defence Secretary said that "If we can finish the discussion this year and look at the
(memorandum of understanding) again, maybe we can implement that next year."
Others
In 2007, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding in order to
promote cooperation in media policy and information exchange. But there has been no
further information about the development of it.

14“Singaporean companies looks for business opportunities in the Philippines” Philippine Singapore
Business Council (2017) https://mbc.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/PRESS-RELEASE_2017-PSBC-
Conference-and-Business-Matching-1.pdf Accessed: 7 March, 2018
15 “Revival of PH-Singapore military exercises eyed” Fernan Marasigan, The Manila Times (2017)
http://www.manilatimes.net/revival-ph-singapore-military-exercises-eyed/309396/ Accessed: 5 March
2017
16 “Manila says it may revive military pact with S'pore” Raul Dancel, The Straits Times (2017)

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/manila-says-it-may-revive-military-pact-with-spore Accessed: 5 March

2017

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
Issues Encountered by the Bilateral Partnership
Philippines and Singapore established the bilateral relations during a crucial time
for both the states, since Singapore had just established independence and the
Philippines was trying to get back on its feet after the American-Japanese War or the
World War 2.
Through the almost 50 years of economic and security relations the Philippines
and Singapore had encountered some ups and downs.
The Biggest issue that the states encountered were the conflicting ideologies on
the Flor Contemplacion case during the 90’s. Flor Contemplacion, 42, was charged with
the 1991 slayings of a 4- year-old Singapore boy, Nicholas Huang, and his family's maid,
Della Maga, 34.
17Shewas hanged in 1995, even though the Philippines claimed that new
evidences were found. Her lawyers tried until the last hours to delay the execution, saying
there was fresh evidence to exonerate her and that the case should be reopened.
Singapore rejected the new evidence, which reportedly included testimony by
another maid that suggested the boy had drowned in a bathtub during an epileptic fit and
his enraged family killed Mrs. Maga. Mrs. Contemplacion, a mother of four, claimed she
was forced to confess during her trial.
18TheSingapore government said in a statement that it 'carefully investigated this
evidence and found it to be untrue. Huang's doctor confirmed the boy showed no signs
of epilepsy, the government said.
This caused an outrage in the Philippines over Singapore's decision to carry out
the execution. A few businessmen and civic leaders have urged Filipinos to boycott
Singapore-made products. Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wednesday issued a
statement saying 'the Singapore Embassy in the Philippines has received a number of
threatening messages,' which the Ministry said were apparently related to the
Contemplacion case.

17 Filipino Maid Hanged In Singapore for Murder” New York times Archives(1995)
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/17/world/world-news-briefs-filipino-maid-hanged-in-singapore-for-
murder.html Accessed: 1 March 2018
18 Filipina maid executed in Singapore” United Press International Archives (1995)

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/03/17/Filipina-maid-executed-in-Singapore/7341795416400/
Accessed: 2 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 IV. Presentation, Interpretation & Analysis

SWOT analysis
Strengths
The Philippine Singapore relationship is based on the mutual understanding and
necessity. The states are somewhat dependent on one another because of the ASEAN
integration. Dependent in way, because the Philippines kind of supply man power to
Singapore, not completely but enough.
Singapore is also is very supportive and active in helping the Philippines with the
internal struggles that the fellow state has been revolving in. An advantage in the
Singapore-Philippines bilateral partnership is the fact that they almost have the same
ideologies about how and why the economy will grow and expand.
The Programs that the two states have been working on are programs that enables
not just them but their neighboring states as well. The bilateral partnership may have
started as an economic one, but it is moving forward to another level completely.
The greatest strength of the relationship is their similar outlook toward the
international arena. Both states are open to improvements and investments, as well as
the exchange of not just goods but workers as well. This invites other states to trust and
engage with both the states.

Weaknesses
The Philippines and Singapore have a different opinion when it comes to
dictatorship. The first hates it and latter accepts it. The Philippines Singapore relationship,
as of now, is not as fragile as, for example the Phil-China relationship. But, Singapore
does not compromise for criminal issues as seen in the Contemplacion case.
As of now, most of the issues that could arise from the bilateral relationship will be
caused by OFW’s. The relationship is dominated by the Overseas working communities
and the relationship can be damaged if there is some disturbance in that aspect the
bilateral relations can collapse.

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 Opportunities
The relationship is open to a lot of political and economic ventures and that works
for both parties. The kinds of investment ventures are growing to be more than just foreign
Direct investments. The Philippine Singapore relationship is growing, and it is good for
the Philippines to have good relationship with a state that has relations with both China
and the United States.
This is a good opportunity for the Philippines to be a little more reliant to a country
that is not a super power but is very successful and disciplined. The relationship will
continue to prosper if these kinds of hospitality are what the states associate to each
other.
The economic based partnership with Singapore will be a platform for the
Philippines to be more open to other states within the Asian region.

Threats
The Philippine Singapore relations can be affected by the Human rights, like what
happened in 1995. Since the Filipinos are very humanitarian characters. There is also the
slow process of law in the Philippines, it could threaten relations with other states because
the Philippines can come off as not interested or rude. Like what is happening to the
Visiting forces agreement draft with Singapore, it was made in 2007 which was 11 years
ago.
But other than that, there are no signs of threats in the bilateral relation.

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 V. Summary, Conclusion & Recommendation

The Philippine-Singapore relationship is one of the best relations that the

Philippines have. The states have worked together through the last 49 years in economic,
security and integration programs that has been helpful for not just the two states but the
ASEAN community.
Its economic relations is its best aspect as of 2018 but there are improvements in
the security and defense aspect. This is an advantage for the Philippines as it will be able
to learn and formulate with forces other than the United States and the like.
The economic ventures of the states are going really well and have improved
through the years. They are good partners in terms of trade, economics and even security.
Singapore has been actively participating in backing the Philippines defense by helping
the Armed Forces train with their own Army.
Although the partnership was tried during the Contemplacion case, the states have
surfaced and are even better partners than before. This was a challenge that almost made
the states sever their bilateral partnership and because of this the states strived for better
understanding and cooperation with each other.
As of 2018, the Philippines should try to improve the responsiveness rate to
different offers. The slow process is not enticing to other states, fast response means that
the Philippines is cooperative, especially since the Philippines is a developing country.
The Philippines-Singapore relations is at a gradual pace towards its peak and the states
should just continue what they are doing as of this time.

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
 VI. References:
Acunzo, Antonio (2017) Singapore and the Philippines: More than just trading partners”
Singapore Business Review http://sbr.com.sg/economy/commentary/singapore-and-
philippines-more-just-trading-partners-0 Accessed: 3 March 2017

Dancel, Raul (2017) “Manila says it may revive military pact with S'pore”, The Straits
Times http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/manila-says-it-may-revive-military-pact-with-
spore Accessed: 5 March 2017

Dancel, Raul (2017) “Singapore offers drones, urban warfare training grounds, aid to help
Philippines fight militants in Marawi”, The Straits Times par. 1
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/singapore-offers-saf-assistance-to-philippines-
in-fight-against-terrorism Accessed: 10 March 2018
Han, Wong Wei (2015) “Singapore, Philippines see stronger relations as ASEAN works
towards economic integration: Lim Hng Kiang” par. 1 The Straits Times
http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-philippines-see-stronger-
relations-as-asean-works-towards-economic Accessed: 2 March 2018
Medical Dictionary (2017) “Research” https://medical-
dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/historical+research Accessed: 3 March 2018

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Statement (1998) Philippines-Singapore Action Plan”

www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/speeches/view-html?filename=1998121405.htm
Accessed: 2 March 2018

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore (2012) “Singapore’s Foreign

Policy”
https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/manila/about_singapore/foreign_p
olicy.html Accessed: 2 March 2018

Marasigan, Fernan (2017) “Revival of PH-Singapore military exercises eyed”, The

Manila Times http://www.manilatimes.net/revival-ph-singapore-military-exercises-
eyed/309396/ Accessed: 5 March 2017

New York times Archives(1995) Filipino Maid Hanged In Singapore for Murder”
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/17/world/world-news-briefs-filipino-maid-hanged-in-
singapore-for-murder.html Accessed: 1 March 2018

Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh (2016) “Singapore and Philippines moving to boost
economic ties” , The Straits Times
http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/singapolitics/singapore-and-philippines-moving-to-
boost-economic-ties Accessed: 5 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service
Parameswaran, Prashanth (2017) “Singapore Military Aircraft Delivers Terror Aid to
Philippines”, The Diplomat https://thediplomat.com/2017/08/singapore-military-aircraft-
delivers-terror-aid-to-philippines/ Accessed: 4 March 2018
Parameswaran, Prashanth (2016) “Philippines, Singapore Discuss Defense Relations
Amid US-ASEAN Meeting”, The Diplomat https://thediplomat.com/2016/10/philippines-
singapore-discuss-defense-relations-amid-us-asean-meeting/ Accessed: 5 March 2018

Philippine Singapore Business Council (2017) “Singaporean companies looks for

business opportunities in the Philippines” https://mbc.com.ph/wp-
content/uploads/PRESS-RELEASE_2017-PSBC-Conference-and-Business-Matching-
1.pdf Accessed: 7 March, 2018

Research Methodology (2017) “SWOT Analysis” https://research-

methodology.net/theory/strategy/swot-analysis/ Accessed: 3 March 2018

United Press International Archives (1992) “Ramos tells Singapore's Lee Filipinos have
rejected dictatorship” par.3 https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/11/20/Ramos-tells-
Singapores-Lee-Filipinos-have-rejected-dictatorship/1643722235600/ Accessed: 3
March 2018

United Press International Archives (1995) Filipina maid executed in Singapore”

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/03/17/Filipina-maid-executed-in-
Singapore/7341795416400/ Accessed: 2 March 2018

US-ASEAN Business Council Inc. (2017) “ASEAN's Economy”

https://www.usasean.org/why-asean/asean-economy Accessed: 5 March 2018

Wee, Vincent (2017) “Deepening Philippines-S'pore ties”, The Business Times HUB
par 2. http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/hub/the-philippines-asean-50/deepening-
philippines-spore-ties Accessed 3 March 2018

Arielle Faith R. Villareal

AB Foreign Service