For over six decades, the ties between the Philippines and Myanmar have been forged closer by the strong kinship between the peoples of both countries since diplomatic relations were established in 1956.
Bilateral linkages are fostered through active exchanges including high level visits from both sides.
- President Fidel V. Ramos to Yangon in October 1997
- State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Chair Senior General Than Shwe to Manila in February 1998
- Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo to Nay Pyi Taw in August 2006
- President Thein Sein to Manila in December 2013
- President Benigno Aquino III to Nay Pyi Taw in June 2013, May 2014, and November 2014
- Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to Manila in July 2014
- Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay in December 2016
- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to Nay Pyi Taw in March 2017
- State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to Manila in April 2017 and November 2017
In addition, the Philippines re-established the Office of the Defense and Armed Forces Attaché (ODAFA) in Yangon in January 2014. To further support the strengthening of the relations, mechanisms to facilitate the bilateral discussions were set up.
- In April 2004, the first-ever Philippines-Myanmar Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) was convened. Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert led the Philippine delegation which agreed to expand cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, forestry, tourism, culture, education, health, and air services.
- In June 2006, the initial Philippines-Myanmar Policy Consultations was held in Manila, with the second held in Nay Pyi Taw in July 2007.
During in time of calamities, the Philippines and Myanmar extend assistance to each other. Truly, a friend in need is a friend indeed.
- In May 2008, in the wake of Cyclone Nargis which affected Myanmar, Senator Richard Gordon led a high-level Philippine delegation to the ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon. The Philippines made a commitment to send a 30-man medical team with medicines and relief goods on board a Philippine Air Force C-130 aircraft. The country also pledged a US$50,000 cash donation. The total value of the Philippines' contribution to the relief effort amounted to US$350,000, excluding contributions of Philippine private companies and charitable organizations
- In 2013, Myanmar donated US$150,000 in aid of the victims of a deadly earthquake that struck the central Philippines in October that year and also for those devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in November and killed nearly 6,000 Filipinos and 5,759 people and left thousands missing or injured.
- In February 2024, in solidarity with the people of Myanmar, the Philippines donated $100,000 to Myanmar's recovery process Post-Tropical Cyclone Mocha.
The Philippines also supported Myanmar’s admission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In July 1997, Myanmar joined ASEAN’s family of nations as the ninth member country. A month prior, President Fidel V. Ramos, in a speech before the Oxford Union Society during his working visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said, “Some countries may object to ASEAN’s incorporation of Myanmar, but to us of ASEAN, that Myanmar is part of the Southeast Asian family is reason enough to bring it into the fold.”
Soon after, President Fidel V. Ramos visited Yangon in October 1997, the first leader from the region to do so after Myanmar became an ASEAN member, which strongly signified the Philippines support for the people of Myanmar in the path towards integration into the regional community.
