List of diplomatic missions of the Philippines

[8] The Philippines' diplomatic presence grew significantly during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, spurred in part by the normalization of relations with the Eastern Bloc in the early 1970s.

[12] Several missions, however, would be closed at the tail end of the Marcos presidency and in the years thereafter as part of a series of cost reduction programs.

This, however, was not without controversy: in 2010 Senator Franklin Drilon questioned the need for embassies in countries with small Filipino communities, calling for a review of the Philippines' diplomatic presence worldwide.

[13] Arroyo's successor, Benigno Aquino III, then announced two years later the closure of ten posts (seven embassies and three consulates general): Caracas, Venezuela; Koror, Palau; Dublin, Ireland; Stockholm, Sweden; Bucharest, Romania; Havana, Cuba; Helsinki, Finland; Barcelona, Spain; Frankfurt, Germany and Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.

[19] Aquino's successors have generally returned to an expansion of the Philippines' diplomatic presence abroad, including the opening of new missions where they did not exist previously.