Although the Philippines and Lebanon established diplomatic relations in 1946, the Philippines did not establish an embassy in Lebanon until November 1996, with Fortunato Oblena becoming the country's first resident ambassador. Prior to the establishment of the Embassy, the Philippines conducted diplomatic relations with Lebanon through an honorary consulate in Beirut which, at various points in its history, was accredited to the Philippine Embassies in Cairo and Amman. Initially located at Raouché in Ras Beirut, the Embassy moved to a larger space in Achrafieh in 2006, enabling it to consolidate consular and labor functions under one roof. In 2012, it moved to its current location outside the city: a new building which also enables it to host larger events. Between 1996 and 2008, the Embassy also exercised jurisdiction over Syria, until a separate embassy was established in Damascus which formally opened on April 17, 2009.
Staff and activities
The Philippine Embassy in Beirut is provisionally headed by a chargé d'affaires, pending the appointment of a new ambassador by the Philippine government. The current chargé d'affaires is Ajeet-Victor S. Panemanglor, while the last resident ambassador was Bernardita L. Catalla, who was appointed to the position by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 13, 2017. Prior to becoming Ambassador, Catalla, a career diplomat, had headed the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong, with a strong record of championing the welfare of Overseas Filipino Workers throughout her career. Her appointment was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on May 17, 2017, and she presented her credentials to Lebanese PresidentMichel Aoun on January 4, 2018. Catalla died while in office on April 2, 2020 due to COVID-19 amidst a pandemic of the disease. The Embassy's activities center around providing to the many OFWs in Lebanon, which began on November 7, 2000 with the opening of a Filipino Workers’ Resource Center to help provide legal aid to OFWs in the country. The treatment of OFWs in Lebanon is a regular point of contention for the Embassy and for the DFA in general: in 2005, it protested a raid in Beirut conducted by the Lebanese government against OFWs despite them being legally documented, while in 2011, it went so far as to encourage people to not go to the country for work. In 2017, in one of Catalla's first acts as ambassador, the registration of Filipinos in Lebanon was swiftly resumed after it was discovered that the Embassy had not been keeping track of how many Filipinos were in the country — by the following year, more than 12,000 OFWs were registered and given registration cards. The Embassy has also facilitated the repatriation of Filipinos affected by war and other conflicts in Lebanon, which it did in 2006, and in 2019, which Catalla personally led. This has also extended to facilitating the evacuation of Filipinos from Syria as a result of that country's civil war. The Embassy also engages in promoting Filipino culture in Lebanon, as well as promoting cultural links and exchanges between the two countries. These include hosting a screening of the 2002 filmKailangan Kita in 2013, organizing Lebanon's first-ever exhibition of Filipino art — primarily the works of Marvin Baldemor, son of Manuel Baldemor — the following year, and presenting the Filipino translation of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, prepared by Ruth Elynia Mabanglo, to his eponymous museum in 2018.
