[citation needed] The Philippines and Iraq formally established diplomatic relations on January 12, 1975, with the opening of the Iraqi Embassy in Manila.

After an Overseas Filipino Worker by the name of Angelo dela Cruz was kidnapped and threatened with death by militants, the Philippine Government decided to move the scheduled end of the tour of duty of its contingent a few weeks early.

Iraq and the United States expressed their disapproval for the withdrawal and described it as "giving in to terrorist demands", despite respecting the Philippines decision on the matter.

[3] In 2013, the Philippines lifted the ban on the deployment of workers to Iraq except to the Iraqi provinces of Anbar, Nineveh and Kirkuk.

[19] In 2019 Chargè d’Affairès Sadie pushed for the adoption of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Combating Human Trafficking that will cover protection of victims, and prosecution of perpetrators.