The Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Theresa Lazaro, visited Chile in order to strengthen ties between the two countries, which in 2026 will commemorate 80 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations.
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After the visit that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Francisco Pérez Mackenna, made to Manila a few weeks ago to attend an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) ministerial meeting, Lazaro decided to visit Santiago, where she also met with President José Antonio Kast.
“The most significant thing about this visit is that we have already concluded the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the Philippines and Chile, which will finally be signed in November at the APEC meeting. This is the first free trade agreement of the Philippines with a Latin American country,” she said in an interview with La Tercera.
What areas do you think should be strengthened between the two countries?
We have just signed a tourism agreement between the two countries. But I think what is very important is that we can also look at your experience with some natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. And, of course, we also have experience in the Ring of Fire. So we would like to collaborate with Chile on resilience and disaster mitigation.
How do you assess the relationship between the Philippines and China?
Our relations with China are evolving in the sense that there may be some disputes in the South China Sea, but we are also making efforts to establish a bilateral mechanism to discuss and debate issues of interest regarding South China Sea affairs. And, at the same time, we hope that by the end of the year, we would like to conclude an ASEAN-China Code of Conduct on the South China Sea. This is very important because we want the South China Sea to be a navigation route, not like the Strait of Hormuz, which is a choke point. So now there is some political will among ASEAN countries and China to have and conclude a code of conduct before the end of the year.
What is this code of conduct about?
It is about discussing certain points that should be legally binding, which will have a certain scope, a geographic scope, so that it does not become a choke point. And, of course, before this code of conduct, we have the DOC or Declaration of Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (signed in 2002). So we want this to evolve from the declaration of conduct to a code of conduct. And I think this is better because this navigation route is being used by almost all countries in the world.
On July 20, an incident occurred at the Ayungin Shoal where a Filipino sailor was injured after allegedly being attacked by the Chinese Coast Guard. What is the red line for Manila? At what point would the Philippines consider that China has moved from coercion to an act that requires a different response?
The Department of Foreign Affairs is not the agency that will determine what our defense establishment is. So our Armed Forces, as well as the Philippine Coast Guard, will determine if such an action really took place. We will file a protest and diplomatic management against China. Now, after July 20, the Chinese ambassador was summoned by the president, and the Chinese ambassador was able to discuss certain matters with him. So we are trying to resolve these issues. We in the Philippines believe that disputes should be resolved peacefully. President Marcos has given us the instruction to resolve things amicably and through diplomatic dialogue.
Regarding the relationship with Washington, how does the Philippines balance both ties between the United States and China while maintaining its autonomy?
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After 300 years of Spanish rule, our next colonizers were the United States, and we were under U.S. rule for 50 years when we were granted independence. We have had a very strong relationship with the United States. In fact, in 1952 we signed a Mutual Defense Treaty or MDT. The United States remains the only ally of the Philippines with treaties. And this says a lot about the current relationship with China, which is currently a strong trading partner, with an excellent people-to-people relationship.
However, when they declared the nine-dash line (an ambiguous U-shaped demarcation used in Chinese maps to claim historical sovereignty over approximately 90% of the South China Sea) they are already violating some of the rules. We filed a case against them, and in July 2016, a tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague invalidated the nine-dash line they drew. However, this decision by the Arbitration Office was not recognized by China. So, as a result, we have also established certain mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of disputes.
So we have a mechanism in which the Philippines and China discuss the issues, the South China Sea. Now, in total, we have already said that the South China Sea issue is not the sum total of our relations, we have ongoing trade between people and many other aspects.
Regarding the internal situation, how do you assess the transition from the Rodrigo Duterte government to that of Marcos?
The Philippines is a democratic country. We had a peaceful transition of power. However, there were certain crimes committed by the former president, which we classify as crimes against humanity. There were several extrajudicial executions in the past. And at that time we were still members of the International Criminal Court and were able to bring former President Duterte to The Hague (where he has been detained since March 2025) for the trial to begin in November. So that is the situation right now. President Marcos is governing the country very well.
The United Nations is in the process of choosing its Secretary-General, how does the Philippines view this situation?
I think the United Nations is a very important international body because we consider that it remains the only body by which all countries are still governed by the rule of law. Therefore, it is the responsibility of countries to continue protecting and projecting the United Nations as an international body. There are two things that the Philippines thinks about the next Secretary-General: that this time it should be a woman, and second, that it should be from Latin America. I think it depends on Latinos to make sure that it comes from this region.
What are the challenges facing the Philippines in relation to climate change?
The Philippines is the most affected country in our part of the world. We suffer at least 15 typhoons a year. And we really need a lot of mitigation and disaster resilience. And that is why we are also looking to Chile to help us with its best practices on how to mitigate certain natural disasters. We understand that you are experts in how to mitigate both volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. So there is some kind of agreement that we are pursuing so that the two countries mutually benefit in this matter.
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