The Philippine government has offered its deep condolences to the Republic of Poland, following the tragic death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash.

"The Government and people of the Philippines offer their deepest condolences to the government and people of Poland on the tragic plane accident, which claimed the lives of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and 96 others," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

"President Kaczynski has made his mark in modern Polish history and will be remembered for his keen sense of nationalism by people all over the world," the DFA said. "The Philippines offers its prayers and sympathy to Poland in this very difficult time and hopes that it will be able to recover quickly from this political tragedy."

The Polish president, his wife Maria, and 96 others were onboard the Polish Air Force Tupolev Tu 154 to attend the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police in a nearby forest, also known as the Katyn forest massacre, when the plane crashed in thick fog near Smolensk in western Russia last Saturday.