Orthodoxy arrived in the Philippines during when Greek sailors settled in Legaspi city on the American colonial regime due to island of Luzon about a century ago. Descendants of these Greek Orthodox Christian sailors now numbers no more than 10 families who kept their Greek surnames and have become distinguished public figures and intellectuals in the Philippines. They do not however speak Greek.  An influx of Russian emigrees fleeing the Soviet regime occured during the American colonial regime. In 1935, a Russian [[parish]] was established in Manila, and the [[Patriarch]] of Moscow and All Russia appointed Father Mikhail Yerokhin as vicar. The Episcopal Church then permitted Fr. Mikhail to use the north transept of their cathedral for worship. In 1937, the first Orthodox church was built and was named after the Iberian [[Icon]] of the Mother of God. This also became the first Orthodox [[altar]] in the Philippines. Later, both the Episcopal Cathedral and Russian Orthodox church were destroyed during the Second World War. [[Image:John Maximovitch Tubabao.jpg|left|thumb|Abp. John Maximovitch in Tubabao]]

In 1949, 5,500 Russian Orthodox from China, including then-[[Archbishop]] [[John Maximovitch]], was relocated to Tubabao in the south central Philippines by the International Refugee Organization and with the permission of the newly independent Republic of the Philippines. Abp. John Maximovitch then established a wooden church, orphanage, and other buildings in Tubabao for the refugees. Until the present time, older Filipinos still remember the holy man, and he is revered even by non-Orthodox in the south central Philippines. Unfortunately, Arbp. Maximovitch did not receive any Filipino convert in the Orthodox Church.