The Philippines competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The country was represented by 15 athletes, 10 men and 5 women, who competed in 17 events across 8 sports.

The Philippine government and private sector pledged a combined sum of P15-million (US$340,909) for any athlete competing in the games who would win the country its first gold medal. Though Willy Wang won the gold medal in Wushu, it was not included in the medal tally because the Wushu tournament is a separate event which runs parallel with the Olympic Games. Though several national records were broken in swimming and weightlifting events, the country failed to win any medals for the third consecutive Olympiad.

On June 12, 2008, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) revealed that its executive committee had selected swimmer Miguel Molina to be flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. In their decision, the POC cited Molina's performance in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games, where he won three individual gold medals and a team relay gold medal, set several national swimming records, and was selected as the meet's "Best Male Athlete". Molina was set to compete in the 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley events at the games.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo later asked the POC to reconsider their decision, requesting instead that popular Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao be given the honor of carrying the flag. Pacquiao was not a competitor at the games, but had recently won the World Boxing Council lightweight title in a highly publicized fight against David Diaz. POC president Jose Cojuangco agreed with the president's decision, saying having Pacquiao as flag bearer would be a morale booster to the athletes. Though the deadline for changing of the national contingent's composition in the Olympiad has already elapsed, special arrangements were made for Pacquiao to be given accreditation. On July 9, 2008, POC announced that everything had been cleared for Pacquiao to be official flag bearer. Miguel Molina, who did not mind yielding the honor to Pacquiao, was instead given the role of flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

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