Toward a Deeper Alliance: United States-Philippines Bilateral Cooperation

The second United States-Philippines Bilateral Strategic Dialogue took place in Washington, DC on January 26 and 27. It was attended by senior officials of our governments who reviewed a number of shared accomplishments achieved over the past year. Through our deepened partnership our two countries made a number of significant advances across a wide range of issues, and we look forward to continuing our close cooperation in the coming year and beyond. Some notable recent achievements include:

Defense and Security Cooperation

· Secretary of State Clinton, Secretary of Foreign Affairs del Rosario, and Secretary of Defense Gazmin signed the Manila Declaration on November 16, 2011, aboard the USS Fitzgerald; the Declaration reaffirms both countries’ shared obligations under the Mutual Defense Treaty and charts a vision for a multi-faceted alliance for the 21st century.

• The United States transferred the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Hamilton, now the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar, to the Philippine Navy, supporting Philippine maritime domain awareness. The transfer of a second cutter is pending U.S. Congressional review;
  
• The Philippine Government streamlined the diplomatic clearance process for U.S. military aircraft and ships, enhancing opportunities for training and interoperability;
  
• The United States provided advanced officer training and communications equipment to the Philippine Coast Guard;
  
• Our governments signed a statement of intent to allow joint missions to recover remains of American military personnel deployed in the Philippines during World War II;
  
• At the request of President Aquino, the U.S. and Philippine Governments collaborated in removing more than 360,000 pounds of leftover WWII naval ordnance from Caballo Island in February 2011.

Prosperity and Governance

• Secretary Clinton and Secretary del Rosario signed a Joint Statement of Principles on November 16, 2011, for the U.S.-Philippines Partnership for Growth (PFG) and established a Joint Action Plan to guide its implementation;
  
• Also in November, our senior trade officials signed a Trade and Customs Facilitation agreement on the sidelines of the APEC conference in Honolulu, continued discussions on a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, and further discussed the Philippines’ interest in eventually joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership;
  
• Our governments oversaw the entry-into-force of our $434 million Millennium Challenge Corporation compact in May 2011, ahead of schedule. The three compact projects are underway, and;
  
• Presidents Obama and Aquino, together with six other founding countries, launched the Open Government Partnership in September 2011 and welcomed the commitment of over 40 governments to improve transparency, accountability, and civic participation in 21st century governance.

Rule of Law and Law Enforcement

• Our governments commissioned a $26 million Megaports Initiative system at the Port of Manila to help deter, detect, and interdict illicit shipments of nuclear and other radioactive materials;
  
• The Philippines formed an interagency airport task force with support from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to interdict trafficking and help enforce anti-narcotics laws at Ninoy Aquino International Airport;
  
• Following successful cooperation between our law enforcement agencies, the United States returned to the Philippines ill-gotten wealth from former military comptroller Jacinto Ligot and the sons of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia;
  
• Several U.S. agencies helped enhance police and forensics capabilities in Mindanao, and;
  
• The U.S. assisted Philippine anti-corruption institutions in increasing their ability to gather and analyze evidence.

Regional and Global Cooperation

• As the country coordinator for the U.S.-ASEAN dialogue, the Philippines worked closely with the United States on a number of issues and facilitated President Obama's participation in the Third U.S.-ASEAN Leaders Meeting in Bali. Areas of Philippine cooperation included successful consultations with nuclear weapons states (NWS), including the United States, that resolved outstanding issues and should ultimately enable the NWS to sign the Protocol to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty;
  
• The United States and the Philippines cooperated closely in the region’s multilateral bodies, including the ASEAN Regional Forum and East Asia Summit (EAS). At the EAS in Bali, Presidents Obama and Aquino made strong statements on the region’s pressing political and strategic issues, including maritime security, nonproliferation, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and;
  
• The Philippines and the United States, working with Australia, co-chaired a workshop on disease detection and surveillance for ASEAN Regional Forum participants, the third in an on-going series of annual biosecurity workshops held in Manila.