Last week, Mayor Todd Gloria led a delegation of Filipino-American business and community leaders on an economic and cultural exchange to the Philippines, building on San Diego’s deep connections to the country.   

San Diego County is home to a thriving Filipino-American community of roughly 215,000 people – the second-largest concentration in the United States. An average of 184 people fly between Manila and San Diego every day.  

Mayor Gloria’s visit, at the invitation of Audie de Castro, honorary consul for the Philippines, involved a series of high-level meetings aimed at bolstering economic investment, highlighting military partnership and celebrating robust cultural ties. 

Mayor Gloria’s Filipino heritage and deep ties to San Diego’s Filipino-American community uniquely positioned him to establish trust and build partnerships that will benefit the region’s businesses through increased trade and cultural connectivity.   

Advancing Economic Growth 

During his visit, Mayor Gloria briefed the three largest and most influential chambers of commerce in the Philippines, representing more than 3,000 companies from a wide variety of sectors including healthcare, biotech, clean energy and defense. This included the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines – the oldest continually operating American Chamber in the world.  Mayor Gloria also promoted increased San Diego-Philippines trade through conversation with Undersecretary Charles Jose, head of international economic relations at the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs.  

Through these engagements, supported by the World Trade Center San Diego, Mayor Gloria secured commitments from several business leaders to explore investment opportunities in and with San Diego. Increased foreign investment would lead to job creation and expanded business development in San Diego – key objectives for the Mayor’s visit. 

Mayor Gloria was also joined by San Diego Port Commissioner Dr. Gil Ungab to meet with leaders of the Philippines’ two largest ports, which together boast more than 600,000 ship-calls and over 250 million metric tons of cargo throughput per year. These meetings enabled exchange of best practices, as well as consideration of sister port relationships to strengthen economic ties and facilitate trade that can benefit local businesses. 

Given that San Diego represents the largest passenger market to the Philippines without direct flight service, Mayor Gloria advocated for the longstanding regional goal of establishing a direct San Diego-Manila flight, not only to facilitate travel for families and professionals but also boost tourism and economic partnership. Multiple senior Philippine government officials and business leaders expressed their support for this initiative and committed to advocating for it through their channels and connections. 

Highlighting Military Partnership 

San Diego is a proud military town, long a hub of military excellence and innovation. Mayor Gloria highlighted this identity and underscored our city’s role in supporting U.S.-Philippines military collaboration.   

He joined San Diego-based TrellisWare to celebrate the company’s delivery of secure communications equipment to the Philippines Armed Forces through their first multimillion-dollar U.S. Foreign Military Sales agreement. The Mayor also discussed San Diego-based Viasat’s role in enabling effective, efficient communications for the Philippines Coast Guard.  

Mayor Gloria also met with the Philippines’ top military official – the chief of staff of the Philippines Armed Forces, as well as the commander of the Philippines Special Operations Forces, during which the Mayor advocated for further partnership with the San Diego-based defense industry. The Mayor recognized and celebrated the contributions of San Diego-based servicemembers to the U.S.-Philippines alliance, our nation’s oldest in the Indo-Pacific.  

Mayor Gloria’s visit coincided with the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Manila, when U.S. forces partnered with Filipino counterparts to liberate the city from the Japanese occupation during WWII. He commemorated this event at the Manila American Cemetery – the largest for U.S. servicemembers outside the United States, where more than 17,000 U.S. servicemembers, including many from San Diego, are memorialized. Mayor Gloria paid his respects during a wreath-laying ceremony, reflecting on San Diego’s crucial role in preserving international stability, as well as his own enduring commitment to our veterans and active-duty personnel.   

Celebrating Cultural Connections 

Cultural ties between San Diego and the Philippines run deep, and Mayor Gloria reaffirmed this by signing a memorandum of understanding with Cavite City Mayor Denver Chua, commemorating more than 55 years of our Sister City relationship. Both mayors agreed to continued collaboration in economic development, academic exchange, and community-building initiatives, bringing further educational and business opportunities to San Diegans.