 Good afternoon. I'm Ernie Bauer, the senior advisor and director of the Southeast Asia program here at CSIS and we're honored today to have our US ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas with us. Harry, thanks for joining us. Tell me, if you would, what's going on on the security relationship? The US and the Philippines relationship is in the news a lot these days related to maritime security in the South China Sea. What's your perspective? Well, thank you so much for that. We are very excited about our opportunity to help our Filipino colleagues improve their humanitarian assistance, disaster awareness, maritime security. This is one of the most disaster-prone areas of the world and it's the United States has always helped the Philippines. We will continue to assist them, but more importantly we want to see them to continue to do what they've been doing, the last few typhoons where they've been able to take on the lion's share of the response by themselves. I think that's a large part due to their training, their fortitude, but also the assistance we've given them over years and that's what we want to continue. But I've got to ask you, on the South China Sea, how does the US think about the the Philippine position there and could you tell us a little bit more? Sure. Well, as you know, the United States takes no sides on the child's sign of sea. We think that all claimant states need to sit down. We do support the declaration of conduct. We think the claimant states need to organize themselves. We do believe in this multilateral approach is very important. We know that President Aquino and Foreign Secretary Delsarrio believe in this, that they want to work very closely with their ASEAN colleagues on this. They want to show that they're a team player on something as important as the South China Sea. And as Foreign Secretary Delsarrio, who can speak for himself better than I can and said, that the Philippines will work with other states on areas that are non-disputed, but areas that are disputed, they need to deal with an international fora. Let me move to trade and economics. Sure. The other pillar of engagement there. I know we have a trade investment framework with the Philippines, but will the Philippines possibly join the Trans-Pacific Partnership and what would it take for them to do that? The U.S. Deputy Trade Rep was just out in the Philippines last week. We're so excited to have him there. The Philippines has a ways to go on that. Before we can approach the other nine countries, the Philippines will have to work very, very hard on that issue. Look, there are constitutional issues, executive orders, amendments that the Philippines will have to deal with, and that's the way it should be, their democracy, let it be their decision, whether they're interested fully in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But we're so excited by the progress that we've made, and Mr. Morantis came away with a very good feeling. The Tifa is just a start, and you have to build on things. Let's build things slowly so that we get it right, because the TPP is not open to other countries right now anyway. Let's help the Filipinos get it right in the way they choose to get it right, and then we can talk about the TPP. President Aquino, when he came into power, really came in on a platform of fighting corruption. How's he done on that front? He's been an ideal president on that. The Philippines has been looked on as a place where corruption could be rife, and we in the United States have to stand with presidents that fight corruption. We're about honesty and transparency, so that is what he's doing. Now it's up to the Senate and the judiciary who are independent bodies and how they convict or cooperate with people, but in terms of stamping out corruption, just look at some positive things. Now when you go to procure a government item, it's up on a website. The procurement practices are open to the public. People can see what you have to do. The days of backdoor deals, he's trying to end that. Now can all of that have been done in a year or two? No. Does there have to be corruption in the street against some lower elements? Yes, but to have a cabinet which is largely honest and a president who's dedicated to ramping out corruption, because he understands that corruption costs the economy so much, costs the average person who has to pay bribes to get his kid in school or to a policeman, and I think that's one of the major reasons his popularity hovers over 60%. What would you say is the status of the U.S.-Philippine relationship? You've been in Manila for more than a year now, right? Almost two years. Yeah, almost two years. And the president's been in office for about two years. We're coming up to the end of the first Obama administration to be another one. Maybe there won't, but how would you talk about that relationship since you've been in Manila? Well, clearly, as the Filipinos say, Ernie, it's more fun in the Philippines. It's been more fun for us, I think, for a whole host of region reasons. The Filipinos are their own independent democracy. They are charting their own course, and that's what we want to see. We want to align ourselves with them in ways that we can that line up with our priorities, and President Obama's and Secretary Clinton's directives to us. That's what we want to see. The Asia pivot of Secretary Clinton has been monumental. But frankly, the fact that the United States and the Philippines can work so closely on a whole host of military issues, on a whole host of economic and trade issues, and the Philippines is one of the four countries that President Obama chose for the partnership for growth, and where our aid has actually increased, that has been tremendous. So we're looking at the depth of our relationship. Clearly now Filipinos are among the largest immigrant groups to the United States. They're playing a great role in our own country. So that dynamism has added to what we're trying to do. And again, as I've said, we're just excited. It is their right. It's more fun in the Philippines. It's going to be more fun in a few weeks when Secretary of Defense Gazzmin and Foreign Secretary Del Rosario come here to meet with Secretary Clinton and Secretary Panetta to discuss a whole host, a range of issues. And the reason we want this 2 plus 2 is to show the depth and breadth of the issues we have with the Filipinos that yes, they cover the partnership for growth. Yes, they cover the environment and trade as well as military issues. It's a lot, and most important, people to people. So the U.S.-Philippine Treaty Alliance sounds like it's in great shape and very dynamic right now. They're one of our most important treaty allies, and we're going to make sure that they stay that way. Thank you so much. Ambassador Harry Thomas, thank you for joining us. Thanks, Ernie. Thanks for having me, as always. Thank you.