Singapore and Friends: A Prognosis on Singapore’s Relations with

Philippines and ASEAN

A term paper presented to

Professor Julian Advincula Jr.

Department of Social Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences

University of the Philippines Manila

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in

Political Science 178

2nd Semester, SY 2014-2015

by

Alyanna Angelina Cabral

May 18, 2015

 Singapore and Friends: A Prognosis on Singapore’s Relations with Philippines

and ASEAN

After the execution of Flor Contemplation in 1995, which caused a strain in the

diplomatic relation between Singapore and Philippines, Singapore-Philippine relations

were able to recover and have been smooth over the subsequent years. Singapore has

established strong tourism, business, and IT cooperation with the Philippines.

In 1999, the Philippine-Singapore IT Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was

signed by both countries, aiming to “further IT cooperation in both governments and

private sectors of the two countries” (“Computerworld”, 2001). Concerning tourism, the

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is set to have bilateral air talks with Singapore. One of

the topics to be discussed in this talk is the possibility of establishing a third country

code-sharing agreement between Philippines’s and Singapore’s carriers (Go, 2015).

Regarding its business ties, the Singapore Business Federation, supported by

International Enterprise Singapore, led a 14-member delegation to Manila in 2014

(Singapore Business Federation [SBF], 2014). Regarding the South China Sea dispute,

in which the Philippines is one of the claimants, Singapore chose to maintain a neutral

position and encouraged a peaceful resolution in accordance with the International Law.

Consequently, Philippines appreciated Singapore’s stand on the issue (Department of

Foreign Affairs [DFA], 2012).

Looking at the larger picture, Singapore also maintains good multilateral relations

with the other member-states of ASEAN. However, these relationships were not always

harmonious and were once met with challenges. This was when Singapore started to
feel the slow pace of multilateral and regional trade liberalization initiatives, and

consequently, sought for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) outside ASEAN (Daquila & Le,

2003). With this, Singapore established a FTA with US. This US-Singapore FTA was

criticized by ASEAN, stating that Singapore was providing its non-ASEAN FTA partner a

back-door entry into the ASEAN FTA (Tongzon, 2003). Singapore is indeed an ideal

destination for non-ASEAN states which attempt to take part in ASEAN trade since

Singapore is said to be the unofficial finance and commerce capital of ASEAN and it

also has close relations with all ASEAN states (Weizhen, 2013). Another criticism on

FTAs outside ASEAN is that it may cause a global imbalance in favor of the transatlantic

region, raising the possibility for ASEAN to be left behind (Daquila & Le, 2003).

Given these challenges to the harmonious relationships of Singapore with

Philippines and ASEAN, this paper will provide a prognosis of Singapore’s bilateral and

multilateral relations with Philippines and ASEAN, respectively. This paper will also

show Singapore’s common issues and concerns with Philippines and ASEAN. Lastly,

Singapore’s contribution and dividends from its relationships with Philippines and

ASEAN will be discussed.

The Singaporean-Philippine relation was not always smooth sailing. It was met

with challenges every once in a while. One of the challenges that faced Singaporean-

Philippine relation is the “discounted maids” issue. It was reported in 2014 that migrant

domestic workers from Indonesia, Myanmar, and Philippines are displayed in malls by

Singapore-based employment agencies, treating them as if they were commodities

(Malay, 2014). The Philippine government expressed resentment over the action of

these Singaporean employment agencies and have prohibited two identified agencies,
Housekeeper recruitment agency and Budget Maid recruitment company, from

recruiting Filipino workers (KBK, 2014).

This issue on discounted maids only goes to show how vulnerable Filipino

migrant workers are from human rights violation, in this case, subjecting Filipinos to

indignity. Meanwhile, there are Filipino migrant workers whose dignity is not the only

one at stake, but also their lives. In October 2010, Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipino

domestic worker, was arrested in Indonesia and was sentenced to death for allegedly

smuggling drugs. However, since the sentencing of her death penalty, it was only this

2015, when her execution date was coming, that her case started to surface the media

and be able to receive full attention from the Philippine government. She was scheduled

to be executed on April 29, 2015. Fortunately, Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s President,

agreed to grant Veloso a reprieve at the last minute before her execution (Migrante

International, 2015).

Since Mary Jane Veloso’s case surfaced the media, her execution caused an

outcry from the Filipino masses, pleading for the Indonesian government to spare

Veloso as she innocent and is only a victim of drug trafficking. With this, the murder

case of Flor Contemplacion also resurfaced and was remembered by the Filipinos

because of its similarities with Veloso’s case. Contemplacion was also a Filipino

domestic worker who was executed in Singapore on 1995 for allegedly murdering a

three-year-old boy. Many Filipinos condemned the Singaporean government for their

decision to execute Contemplacion since they believe that Contemplacion was

innocent. Furthermore, Contemplacion’s execution caused a serious damage on

Singaporean-Philippine bilateral relations, cancelling all bilateral exchanges between

the two for several years (“The philippines”, 1995). Thus, with the outcry for Veloso’s

repreive, the resurfacing of Contemplacion’s execution might have rekindled the past

strain in Singaporean-Philippine relations.

The case of Mary Jane Veloso reignited the concern of Filipinos for the rights of

Filipino migrant workers. Considering this present concern over Filipino migrant

workers, if Singapore wants to maintain a good and stable relationship with Philippines,

Singapore would have to improve or enforce its policies that would protect the rights

and eliminate inhumane conditions of migrant workers. Nevertheless, if it is true that

these concerns would have an effect to the bilateral relation of Singapore and

Philippines, this effect is more likely to be little since Philippines is more concerned with

its business and economic ties with Singapore. It would choose not to compromise

Singapore’s investments on the Philippines over the rights of Filipino migrant workers.

Like its bilateral relationship with Philippines, the Singaporean-ASEAN

multilateral relations were once met with a challenge when Singapore established an

FTA with US. ASEAN expressed its concern over non-ASEAN FTAs, stating that it may

cause a global imbalance in favor of the transatlantic region, raising the possibility of

ASEAN being left behind. Therefore, in the present where almost all ASEAN member-

states have FTAs with non-ASEAN states, ASEAN would have to step up its game in

terms of intra-regional economic activity in order to prevent being overshadowed by the

transatlantic region (Tongzon, 2003).

However, Singapore seems to do otherwise. Due to Singapore’s mid-life crisis, it

is starting to focus more on resolving its domestic affairs. In the past years, People’s
Action Party (PAP) has always dominated Singaporean politics. PAP also suppressed

the political participation of civil society organizations. However, with the emergence of

a younger generation and rise of social media, PAP started to lose its grip over the

electorate, as seen in the by-election loss of PAP to Workers’ Party (WP) in 2013

(Singh, 2014).

Unlike before, when media in Singapore was controlled by PAP, Singaporean

people are now starting to be critical about societal issues due to their exposure to

social media. Singaporeans became more vocal about their concerns, such as wide

income gap and aging population (Singh, 2014). In order to please the civil society, PAP

is planning to improve the accessibility of basic social services to Singaporeans. In Lee

Hsien Loong’s National Rally Day speech, he said that there would be measures taken

“to recalibrate social and welfare policies, focused primarily on housing and health – two

of Singaporeans’ top concerns” (Head, 2013; Singh, 2014, p. 282-283). If social

services were made more accessible, there might be a reduction in Singaporeans’

demand for private services because there would be an increased demand for public

services instead. Thus, due to this situation in Singapore, it is possible that there will be

a decrease in the investment of foreign companies on private businesses in Singapore.

Aside from wide income gap, another issue that causes domestic tensions is the

increasing number of immigrants in Singapore. In January 29, 2013, a White Paper on

population and immigration policy was released. This White Paper policy aims to

address Singapore’s inverted population pyramid, which poses a negative impact for

economic growth. However, this policy was met with negative responses from the local

Singaporeans because they see immigrants as a competition in the labor force (Singh,
2014). In the current situation of the PAP gaining the loyalty of Singaporean people, it is

likely that the Singaporean government will limit the entry of migrants into its labor force.

With the domestic tensions caused by wide income gap and increasing number

of immigrants, PAP needs to please the Singaporean people in order to maintain its hold

of power in the country. With this, the political landscape of Singapore is changing. This

change in political landscape involves a decrease in FDI and a limited flow of labor.

Thus, it can be said that the mid-life crisis of Singapore can slowdown the economic

activity of Singapore, since it has to focus on its internal affairs. Going back to ASEAN’s

concern about non-ASEAN FTAs, this change in Singaporean political landscape is

likely to be met with a negative response from ASEAN. This is because the slowdown in

Singapore’s economic activity would be in contrast with ASEAN’s goal of boosting its

intra-regional economic activity.

These domestic issues and concerns faced by the Singapore are also

experienced by its neighboring countries. Like in Singapore, civil society activism has

always been a problem in the Philippines. However, the difference is that the Philippine

government is not responsive to the demands of the civil society. On the other hand, the

Singaporean government is expected to live up to its promise to the Singaporean public.

However this will only be true for a short time because their FDI and labor force will be

compromised in their efforts to please the Singaporean people.

Thailand also faces the same concern as Singapore. In the present, there is

unrest among the Thai people due to the military junta’s overthrow of Yingluck

Shinawatra. The present Thai military government is showering Thai people with
economic benefits in order to gain political legitimacy. Thus, the present Thai military

government is also currently focusing on resolving its domestic affairs (Chanlett-Avery &

Dolven, 2014). Like Singapore, ASEAN is also worried about Thailand not being able to

effectively play its leadership role in the region due to its preoccupation with its domestic

affairs.

Singapore’s domestic affairs are of concern to its neighboring countries since

these affect regional affairs. Another thing which causes such concern towards

Singapore is the contributions that it has and may have to its neighboring countries.

Singapore is Philippines’s 4th top trade partner and the 5th biggest source of investment

(De Leon, 2014). Aside from that, since there are many Filipino migrant workers in

Singapore, the remittances from these workers can help boost Philippines’s economy. In

fact, Singapore is one of Philippines’s top sources of remittances with 4.1% of the total

remittances received (Magtulis, 2013).

Regarding Singapore’s contribution to ASEAN, Singapore can serve as a

framework for the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. Singapore is the 4 th

largest economy in ASEAN. Despite its lack of natural resources and small population, it

was able to be one of the largest economies in ASEAN due to its economic

liberalization, making it the unofficial finance and commerce capital of the ASEAN.

Singapore’s economic liberalization can be adopted by ASEAN in boosting its economy

and facilitating the free flow of trade.

Of course, it is not only Singapore that will contribute in its relationships with

Philippines and ASEAN. The bilateral and multilateral relations the Singapore has with
Philippines and ASEAN is a two-way relationship. Therefore, Singapore will also benefit

from its relationships and this is the reason why Singapore chooses to maintain a good

and stable relationship with both Philippines and ASEAN.

Singapore is known to be ASEAN’s business hub. Living in a country of high

liberalization, most of the Singaporeans are busy working in offices. In order to keep the

flow of businesses running, there would be a need for someone who would take care of

household work, thus creating a high demand for migrant domestic workers in

Singapore. According to Piper (n.d.), Singapore is one of the major receiving countries

of migrant workers in Southeast Asia. On the other hand, most of Singapore’s domestic

workers come from Philippines, followed by mixed numbers from Indonesia, Myanmar

and Sri Lanka (Huang, 2013). Therefore, it can be said that the dividend of Singapore

from its relationship with Philippines is domestic labor.

On the other hand, since Singapore is a small country with a small and aging

population and with almost no natural resources, Singapore would be one of the

countries who would benefit the most from the AEC in 2015. In this AEC, there would be

elimination of trade barriers, thus a free flow of goods and services. This will be

beneficial to Singapore in a way that it could now freely import natural resources from

other countries. Also, this economic integration will be in favor of Singapore’s need for

immigrants, which will solve its problem on aging its population.

Singapore has always maintained a harmonious relationship with Philippines and

ASEAN. However, Singapore’s bilateral relation with Philippines and multilateral

relations with ASEAN were not always smooth sailing. It was met with challenges every
once in a while. There became strains in the Singaporean-Philippine relation due to the

inhumane working conditions of Filipino migrant workers in Singapore. On the other

hand, Singapore’s relationship with ASEAN was strained due to its establishment of a

FTA with US.

These challenges may affect the future condition of Singapore’s bilateral and

multilateral relations with Philippines and ASEAN. Due to Philippines’s increased

concern over Filipino migrant workers, Singapore would have to improve or enforce its

policies that would protect the rights and eliminate inhumane conditions of migrant

workers. On the other hand, given the existence of FTAs with non-ASEAN states,

Singapore’s slowdown in economic activity, which is caused by its changing political

landscape, worries ASEAN because there is a need for them to step up its intra-regional

economic activity in order to prevent global imbalance in favor of the transatlantic

region.

Singapore also has common issues and concerns with its ASEAN neighbors.

Singaporean and Philippine governments both have civil society activism as one of their

primary concern. Meanwhile, given the 2014 Thai military coup, both Singapore and

Thailand are currently focusing on their respective domestic affairs instead of regional

affairs.

The bilateral and multilateral relations the Singapore has with Philippines and

ASEAN is a two-way relationship. Singapore has both contributions and dividends from

its relationships. Due to migration of Filipino workers, Singapore contributes to the

boosting of Philippines economy while it benefits from the domestic labor provided by
Filipinos, allowing Singapore to maintain its flow of businesses running. On the other

hand, in the upcoming AEC in 2015, Singapore’s economic liberalization can serve as a

framework for ASEAN while Singapore may benefit the most from the free flow of goods

and services since it has a small population and lacks natural resources.

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