1866 Mr. van Polanen Petel becomes the first Dutch Honorary Consul in Manila.
Petel was succeeded by his cousin George Petel upon Polanen Petel’s departure to Java in 1869.[1] George Petel informally
took over the Consulate.
February 1889 P.K.A Meerkamp van Embden, from a tobacco trading family in Rotterdam, was appointed Honorary Consul in Manila.
He claimed to be the only Dutchman in Manila and he served as Honorary Consul for more than three and a half decades.
He took over the tobacco agency and managing firm, or trading house, in Manila, which Petel established, and had it
renamed “Meerkamp”.[2]
1908 Priests from the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) and the Society of the Divine Word (SVD),
which are based in the Netherlands, arrive in the Philippines.[3]
1929 Both the MSC and the SVD begin sending Filipino novices to the Netherlands to be trained for the priesthood.[4]
1947 An opera singer is recorded as first Filipina resident in The Netherlands.[5]
1947 Consul General N.A.J. de Voogd assumes as chargé d’ affaires of the Netherlands to the Philippines.[6]
1948 A.J.D. Steenstra Touissant assumes as extraordinary envoy and minister plenipotentiary of the Netherlands
to the Philippines.[7]
17 May 1951 Bilateral relations commence with the appointment of Procero E. Sebastian as first envoy of the Philippines
to the Netherlands, with residence in Paris.
04 December 1951 KLM airlines start flights between Amsterdam and Manila.
1955 Philippine Secretary of Trade and Industry Oscar Ledesma visits The Netherlands.[8]
1959 H.E. Nicanor Roxas assumes as resident Philippine Ambassador to The Netherlands.
21-24 Nov 1962 H.R.H. Princess Beatrix visits Manila.
October 1964 The first groups of Filipino nurses arrive in the Netherlands. Nurses were assigned in the university hospital in Utrecht.
1966 First batch of young Filipinas arrive to work in textile factories in Amsterdam, Ulft, Wehl and Gendringen.[9]
2 August 1967 First batch of 25 midwives from the Philippines arrives in the Netherlands accompanied by Dr. Hattinga Verschure.
1968 President Diosdado Macapagal conducts official visit to The Netherlands, together with a Philippine trade mission.[10]
16 October 1968 The Philippine Embassy, during the term of Ambassador Delfin R. Garcia, acquires the property
at Laan Copes van Cattenburch 125 in The Hague for its chancery. The building was originally constructed in 1871-1872.[11]
13 February 1968 The Philippines and The Netherlands sign in Manila the Exchange of Letters Constituting an Agreement
concerning the Employment of Netherlands Volunteers in the Philippines.
21 January 1969 The Philippines and The Netherlands sign the Air Services Agreement in Manila.
09 June 1975 The Philippines and The Netherlands sign in Rijswijk the Memorandum of Agreement on Inter-Country Adoption Program.
13 Feb 1979 H.E. President Ferdinand E. Marcos confers the Order of Sikatuna to Dr. Sergio Orlandini,
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines President.[12]
21 Apr 1980 Prime Minister and Madame Dr. Andreas Van Agt visits Manila.
18-21 Dec 1980 Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Chris van der Klaauw visits the Philippines.
August 1983 Dutch Minister for Agriculture Gerrit Braks visits the Philippines.
27 February 1985 The Philippines and The Netherlands sign in Manila the Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments.
June 1985 The International Training Center on Pig Husbandry and the joint project to train hog farmers between the Philippines
and the Netherlands is established.
30 Apr-3 May 1986 Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Eegje Schoo visits Manila.
April 1987 Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Piet Bukman visits the Philippines.
13-15 May 1987 Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Hans van den Broek visits the Philippines.
10 September 1987 The Memorandum of Understanding between the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources
Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology and the International Service for National
Agricultural Research of the Netherlands is signed in The Hague.
20 September 1991 The Philippines and the Netherlands sign the Convention on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion
with Respect to Taxes on Income.
16-17 June 1993 Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Roberto Romulo and Trade Secretary Rizalino Navarro visit the Netherlands.
27 July 1994 The Philippines-Netherlands Business Council is formally established in The Hague.
6-8 March 1995 President Fidel Ramos visits the Netherlands.
6 March 1995 The Philippines and the Netherlands sign in The Hague the Memorandum of Understanding on Economic and
Technological Cooperation.
7-8 November 1996 Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok visits the Philippines.
1997 Minister for Economic Affairs Hans Wijers led a trade mission to the Philippines.[13]
24-26 April 1998 Philippine Secretary of Trade Cesar Bautista visits the Netherlands
10 July 1998 The Philippines and the Netherlands sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the Gainful Employment of
Diplomat’s Dependents.
21-23 March 2000 Minister for Transport and Water Tineke Netelenbos visits the Philippines.
22 March 2000 The Philippines and the Netherlands sign in Manila the Memorandum of Understanding on Maritime Transport,
establishing the Joint Committee on Maritime Affairs.
10 April 2001 The Philippines and the Netherlands sign in Manila the Agreement on the Export of Social Insurance Benefits.
31 May 2001 The Philippines and the Netherlands sign in Manila the Undertaking on the Recognition of Certificates under
Regulation 1/10 of the 1978 International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers.
2005 The Dutch Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines is established by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Inc. and the Netherlands Embassy.
September 2008 H.R.H. Prince Willem-Alexander, in his capacity as Chairman of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on
Water and Sanitation, visits Cebu for the 8th Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption/Production.
25 March 2015 The Philippines and the Netherlands sign the Memorandum of Understanding to Enhance Cooperation Against Trafficking.
29 Jun-1 Jul 2015 H.M. Queen Maxima visits Manila in her capacity as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for
Inclusive Finance for Development.
22 January 2018 The Philippines and The Netherlands sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the Sustainable Development
of the Manila Bay Area.
19 October 2018 Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the
Asia-Europe Meeting in Brussels.
30 January 2020 The first Bilateral Consultations between the Philippines and The Netherlands is held in The Hague.
29 June 2021 The second Bilateral Consultations between the Philippines and The Netherlands is hosted by Manila.
The Department of Foreign Affairs gave consent to The Netherlands’ request to open a Consulate General in Davao City.
October 2021 Full renovation of the Embassy chancery at Laan Copes van Cattenburch commences during the term of
Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya. Completion of the renovation project is expected in mid-2022. It is the first
comprehensive renovation of the chancery since its original construction in 1871.
[1] van Muijzenberg, Otto. “Philippine-Dutch Social Relations, 1600-2000,” (Research Gate, 2001), 485.
[2] Ibid., 487
[3] Ibid., 491
[4] Ibid., 492
[5] van Muijzenberg, Otto. “Four Centuries of Dutch-Philippine economic relations, 1600-2000,” (Manila: Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, 2001), 96.
[6] Ibid., 123
[7] Ibid., 123
[8] Ibid., 108
[9] Ibid., 97
[10] Ibid., 98
[11] “Avenue Copes van Cattenburch 125,” Monument En Zorg Den Haag. Accessed on 1 October 2021. https://www.monumentenzorgdenhaag.nl/monumenten/laan-copes-van-cattenburch-125.
[12] van Muijzenberg, Otto. “Four Centuries of Dutch-Philippine economic relations, 1600-2000,” (Manila: Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, 2001), 96.
[13] Ibid., 110