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The Embassy of Philippines in London |
Contact
Address
6-11 Suffolk Street, London, SW1Y 4HG
Phone Number
020 7451 1780
Website
londonpe.dfa.gov.ph
E-Mail
embassy@philemb.co.uk
The Ambassador
H.E. Mr. Teodoro L. Locsin Jr.
H.E. Mr. Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. (widely known in global media and diplomatic networks as "Teddy Boy") is an exceptionally prominent, heavyweight statesman, legal scholar, and veteran institutional architect. Born in Manila in November 1948, he hails from a highly distinguished intellectual lineage; his father was the iconic publisher of The Philippines Free Press. He earned his Bachelor of Laws and Jurisprudence from the Ateneo de Manila University before reading international law at Harvard Law School, where he obtained his Master of Laws (LL.M.).
Ambassador Locsin’s phenomenal, multi-decade public career spans the absolute highest echelons of legislative, executive, and multilateral state governance. Following the historic 1986 People Power Revolution, he served as the primary speechwriter, legal counsel, and trusted Cabinet strategist to President Corazon Aquino, subsequently anchoring the speechwriting desks of Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Transitioning to the legislature, he was elected to three terms as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives (2001–2010), representing Makati City—the country's equivalent of Wall Street—where he authored baseline banking, securitization, and macro-energy legislation.
He achieved monumental global prominence upon entering the diplomatic corps, serving as the 20th Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York (2017–2018). He was then elevated by the state to serve as the 27th Secretary of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Minister) of the Philippines from 2018 to 2022.
Appointed by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to command the premier Western European post, he arrived in London ahead of the Royal Coronation and presented his formal Letters of Credence to His Majesty King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on May 16, 2023. His leadership brings unparalleled political gravity, brilliant media literacy, and deep intellectual candor to Whitehall. He is married to Maria Lourdes Barcelon Locsin.
History
Bilateral ties between the Philippines and the United Kingdom are structurally deep, highly collaborative, and rapidly intensifying across economic and security spheres. Formal diplomatic relations were established on July 4, 1946, and the relationship is heavily anchored by dense human capital connections. The embassy operates out of a grand, highly active independent chancery compound at 6-11 Suffolk Street in the prestigious, historic political district of St. James's.
The Embassy of the Philippines in London operates as a powerhouse operational command post for executing advanced digital trade statecraft, defense modernization, and healthcare labor diplomacy between Manila and Whitehall. Under Ambassador Locsin’s senior ministerial direction, a primary mandate of the mission centers on fully leveraging the entry of the Philippines into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) preparatory frameworks, working side-by-side with the British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) to expand bilateral trading mechanisms.
Commercially, the embassy works seamlessly with the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) to streamline supply networks—facilitating record-high agricultural volumes following Manila's strategic decision to increase the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) for imports.
On the humanitarian and labor fronts, the embassy aggressively enforces the "principal pillar" of Philippine diplomacy: the absolute protection, care, and welfare of overseas Filipino workers. The mission maintains high-level structural synchronization with the British Department of Health and Social Care, safeguarding the rights of the tens of thousands of elite Filipino nurses, medical specialists, and care workers who form the backbone of the British National Health Service (NHS).
Concurrently, its heavily modernized consular section delivers digitized e-passport updates, overseas voting processing, and civil registries to support the thriving, highly respected Filipino professional, academic, and corporate diaspora community residing across the British Isles.
