Peru–Philippines relations
Peru–Philippines relations refers to the diplomatic relations between Peru and the Philippines. The Philippines and Peru are both predominantly Roman Catholic countries and were ruled by the Spanish Empire for hundreds of years. History. During the colonial period, there was significant trade between the two colonies. But there were frequent shifts and reversals of the trade volumes. Following the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in 1560, the islands became a focal point of trans-Pacific trade between Peru and China. Large quantities of silver was exported from Peru, whilst luxury goods such as silk was imported  from China via the Philippines. However, in 1581 the Spanish crown awarded monopoly to the port of Acapulco for the trade over the Pacific. However, the traders of Peru continued to trade with the Philippines, in violation of the Royal Decree. Gonzalo Ronquillo de Peñalosa, the governor-general of the Philippines, sent galleons to Peru in 1581 and 1582 carrying the message that trade with Manila was illegal. Though illegal, the trade continued in secret. Benefiting from cheaper Asian goods; a commercial alliance between Mexico, Manila and Lima was formed against Madrid which imposed more expensive imports from the Spanish  capital due to their forced monopoly. The smuggling of Chinese goods to Peru involved both Peruvian merchants and politicians. As of the early 17th century, there were significant imports of Chinese goods to the cities of Lima and Potosí. The peak year was 1602, when the imports from Asia was estimated at a value of 5 million pesos. Meanwhile, Peru sent colonists and soldiers to the Philippines. In 1635 the former governor of Panama, Don Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera, brought a large number of Peruvian soldiers and colonists to settle the Fortress-City of Zamboanga in the Philippines. In 1793  the Philippines Company was given permission to resume exports to Peru. After the Latin American wars of independence, Peruvians were among the Latin-Americans which supported the self-proclaimed Emperor of the Philippines, Andres Novales, in his failed revolt against Spain. Later years. In 2008, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Peruvian President Alan García held bilateral talks and shared commonalities talking about the kinship between their two countries. Following on the meeting of the two Presidents, it was announced in 2008 that the re-introduction of the Spanish language in Philippine schools in 2009 would be a very timely  move as the Philippines and Peru had agreed to expand their diplomatic, bilateral and trade relations. In 2009, a Philippines Department of Education order titled a "Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MLE)" detailed a planned educational methodology which did not involve the Spanish language.