The year 2025 marks the 215th anniversary of the beginning of Mexico’s struggle for independence.

As is now tradition, the Mexican community in Manila, together with representatives of the Philippine government, local personalities and the diplomatic corps, recently gathered to celebrate the milestone.

 The official ceremony was led by Ambassador Daniel Hernández Joseph and included the famous “Grito de Dolores” (Cry of Dolores), which commemorates the night of 15 September 1810, when national hero Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called on the inhabitants of the small town of Dolores to fight for their freedom.

It would take 11 years and many battles before independence was achieved on 27 September 1821, which is why “El Grito”, as it is called, also honors the women and men who gave their lives for the Mexican nation. 

This same ceremony is replicated in every city in Mexico and by every Mexican embassy and consulate abroad.

This year is also significant for national history, as for the first time a woman, our President Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum, will preside over the independence ceremony in Mexico City’s Zócalo, the main square of Mexico City.

 The year 2025 also represents the 460th anniversary of the start of the trans-Pacific route of the Acapulco-Manila Galleon, which facilitated the direct exchange in Manila of ideas, products and culture between Asia and the Americas, with the Philippines and Mexico at the center of these two-way flows that made trade global and whose influences are still present in similar traditions and customs on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Additionally, this year marks the 80th anniversary of the arrival in the Philippines of the Escuadrón 201 of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force, which participated in the liberation of Manila during the Second World War.

 Thus, Mexico and the Philippines’ sister-nation ties have continued to deepen over more than four centuries, whose interest in strengthening bilateral relations includes promoting business with the visit in June of a mission from the Mexican Pork Exporters Association and representatives from the agriculture office.

It also includes projects such as training in palaeography, which seeks to train Filipino personnel in the interpretation of colonial-era documents that refer to this country and its relationship with Mexico.

Added to this is the upcoming exhibition “Somos Pacífico” (We Are Pacific), an initiative born in Singapore, which will take place in the last quarter of the year in Mexico and will include ancient Filipino pieces and this country’s view of the economic, social and cultural impact of the Acapulco-Manila Galleon on this nation and the Asian region.