26 October 2015 – Philippine Senate President Franklin M. Drilon met with Mr. Vyacheslaw Makarov, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg on October 23 and discussed the broadening of ties between Philippine and Russian local government units.

The Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg is the legislative body of Saint Petersburg, a key port of Russia. It was established in 1994 and succeeded the Leningrad Council of People Deputies (Lensovet). It is located in the historic Mariinsky Palace.

“Our meeting is an early implementation of the agreement I signed with Madame Matvienko last Tuesday that includes efforts to boost ties between our local governments,” the Senate President told Mr. Makarov. 

A key feature of a new agreement signed on October 20 by Senate President Franklin M. Drilon and Mme. Valentina I. Matvienko, Chairperson of the Federation Council, Federal Assembly of Russia, is cooperation and broadening of ties between regions and municipal entities of the two countries. The agreement is designed to strengthen ties and cooperation between the upper houses of legislatures of the Philippines and Russia.

The Senate President told Mr. Makarov he was looking forward to visiting St. Petersburg as it was Mme. Matviyenko who invited him to come and see for himself the potential that the city holds as a partner in expanding Philippines-Russia relations.  Mme. Matvienko, Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia visited Manila in November last year.  She is from St. Petersburg where she started her political career.

“In our talks last Tuesday at the Council of Federation (with Mme. Matvienko), we agreed that people-to-people exchanges – may it be in the field of education or culture– have a crucial role to play in strengthening the foundation of our bilateral ties. Close links between peoples translate into deeper mutual understanding and stronger government-to-government relations. This is where I see Saint Petersburg can come in,” the Senate President said.

In his meeting with Mr. Makarov, the Senate President recalled that St. Petersburg is a major center of science and education having many reputable research organizations and higher learning institutions, saying “I am told that Tagalog/Filipino is taught at the Saint Petersburg State University which had linkages with the University of the Philippines.”

“Saint Petersburg also boasts of thousands of heritage sites and world-class artistic institutions, including the Vaganova Choreographic Institute where our very own Prima Ballerina Lisa Macuja trained in the 1980s,” he added.

Saying that these are good examples of academic and cultural exchanges that should be continued, including in the context of sister city arrangements, Senate President Drilon welcomed the fact that last month the city government of Cebu and Saint Petersburg initiated talks on a Plan of Action to implement their 2009 sister city agreement.

On trade, the Senate President said “now is the perfect time for Russian businesses to seriously consider establishing a strong presence in the Philippines.”  He pointed out “our economy is growing and will continue to expand in the coming years. Philippine companies are raring to expand their reach to include non-traditional markets such as Russia. Our macro-economic fundamentals are strong which make us a very attractive investment destination. Russian investors are most welcome in the Philippines.” END