 So good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Robert J. Tams and I'm the commander of Perry Strike Group 3 which encompasses not only the Abraham Lincoln and the Ereling and also six cruisers and destroyers, two of which are here in Manila Village, C.S.A. Florida Bay and the U.S. escorts. And I'd like to personally welcome all of you on board this flagship of our Perry Strike Group. I'd first like to say that we're extraordinarily grateful to the government of Philippines and to the armed forces of Philippines for allowing us to visit Manila and experience this wonderful city. I'd also like to thank the members of the U.S. Embassy for their coordination and making this happen as well. This is the first U.S. carrier-formed port visit in this region in over two years and I'm proud to say that the first one is to the Philippines. We're thrilled to be here. We're also thrilled to show this reception to you and I hope you're time on board. Interacting with our team illustrates just how seriously we take our line and ensuring a free and open atmosphere. Our countries have maintained close and cooperative ties for 75 years and our two peoples have been close friends for far longer. Over the decades our countries have accomplished so much together and moving forward we will accomplish even more thanks to the friendship, cooperation and mutual support between our two peoples. While we're going we're operating the most capable and consequential forms to protect our interests and the interests of our allies like the Philippines. We do this by providing credible capability and capacity across a myriad of missions from humanitarian assistance and disaster response to high-end combat and we do it by demonstrating that we will professionally fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. We are present in the region to reassure our allies and partners in our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and to counter malign influence from our adversaries. These freedoms are especially vital in the seas west of the Philippines where nearly a third of global maritime trade and roughly three and a half trillion dollars go through every year. And we cannot ensure these freedoms alone. Our alliance with the Philippines is foundational to our role in the Indo-Pacific. It is a relationship built on shared strategic interests, history, culture and most importantly strong military-to-military and people-to-people topics. Relationships like ours are vital to the security of both our countries and benefit all nations in the Indo-Pacific. We will continue to strengthen our defense cooperation through multilateral exercises like RIMPAC, the Southeast Asian cooperation against terrorism and Komodo as well as the vital exercises like Balakitana. We will also continue to protect our collective interests and safeguard our common values. Thank you all for attending this evening and thank you for your incredible hospitality during our time here at Hidalp as well as your friendship. Please enjoy the rest of your stay on board. I'll add my pleasure from the U.S. Embassy Miss Heather Marriaga to say a few words. Good afternoon everyone. We're Admiral Anderson, Captain Bauer-Schmidt. Thank you so much for welcoming us aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. It is such an honor to be here with all of you this afternoon. I'd like to recognize a few of our special Philippine guests. We have Admiral Palses of the Philippine Navy, Major General Doyong of the Philippine Army General Rodel Zimonia of the Philippine National Police General Cardinoza of the AFP Health Service Command Undersecretary Carolina of the VA We also have numerous distinguished civilian guests including Associate Justice Rosario of the Philippine Supreme Court Senator Francis Tolentino, Youssec Mark Hovind from the Department of Finance and many others. We have diplomatic guests as well. Ambassador Vofis of the United Kingdom Ambassador Chung of Vietnam. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon and sailors of USS Abraham Lincoln, colleagues from the Embassy here in Mandela. Aren't we lucky to be here on this beautiful afternoon and in this amazing ship to celebrate U.S. Philippine ties. We are so fortunate to have the Abraham Lincoln back in the Philippines. Thank you, Captain, for that amazing story about Minotubo. I was not aware that it's just a symbol of the great ties that we have with the Philippines and how partners, friends, and allies work together in times of need. It's been several years since we've had a port visit here on the Philippines and we've all gone through a lot with the pandemic since then. So it's wonderful to have Abraham Lincoln here in Mandela and be able to gather in a more normal, in-person fashion. Thank you, Captain, for providing this unique backdrop to a host, our friends, partners, and allies from the Philippine government, military, and local community. This visit by the Abraham Lincoln demonstrates the strong and enduring relationship between the United States and the Philippines. It is a very visible symbol of 75 years of diplomatic relations between our two nations and even more importantly of more than 70 years of our mutual defense treaty. We also love having this carrier visit because it gives us an opportunity to celebrate the very special ties that exist between Filipinos and the United States Navy. It's great to hear about the many Philam sailors eagerly disembarking to meet up with family members that have traveled from all over the Philippines to see them. This extremely impactful port visit has brought families together, provided respite for deployed sailors, investment into the local economy, and showcased the strength of our alliance and diplomatic ties that have existed for more than seven decades. Many thanks to the sailors of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln who've made this reception a success and thank you to our Philippine partners for coming out and celebrating with us this afternoon. Murami Salamat, have a wonderful afternoon. Thank you.