 Welcome. I'm glad you came through the threatening snowstorm. I mean, this is great. I just have to share with you something I learned this morning the last time that State Secretary Romulo was here was I think the 19th and 20th of December of last year now if you may remember that was the last time We got 20 inches of snow. Okay, so we I have concluded that there's a dangerous correlation between the state secretaries coming to Washington and snowstorms So we're going to make this last until four o'clock so that he'll be here for the next week I think you know because we it sounds like we're going to have a one heck of a snowstorm here today. No, seriously It's it's a it's a great privilege to Welcome the the state secretary back with us He's a longtime friend and of course knows Washington so very very well and Is what we need in Washington, which is a friend who helps us understand the truth You know we're you know not all friends speak as Clearly as we sometimes need to hear and I think it's the best sign of true friendship when you hear both things You want to hear and you hear things that you'd rather not hear but you hear with the spirit that gives you confidence that it's meant with goodwill and Conviction and so we're very grateful for that. We think this is going to be a very good very good morning We've got lots. I think to learn from you and it'd be great. There's so much That is now happening throughout asia and we're trying to Think through what what does it mean for america to have a an asian president or a pacific president and Does it mean anything? Is it just simply rhetoric? What's What is america's relationship in a region that's changing so profoundly from the inside and these are really quite big questions And we frankly need the candor and the objectivity of a good friend to help us think that through together And so we we look forward to this session John negra potty. Thank you for coming. We're uh, you know, one of I only had to come one block. He only had to come one block and he's dressed quite appropriately He came in he looked like na nuka the north and he's so he's guaranteed of getting home But it's really wonderful. John as everyone knows was our ambassador in philippines and And has a very very deep Affection for this wonderful country and so you're sharing it with us today and you'll share the perspective and insights Ambassador gaw. Thank you for everything you do to help us here with our southeast asia program You're a great friend and we look forward to many many more Opportunities to work and thank you for facilitating this visit today. Ernie. Do you want to say some introductory words before we turn it over to Foreigner Well, then then then let's not I'm I'm only here for ornamental purposes. So let's let's get the real program going Foreign secretary, why don't I ask you to come up to the podium and offer your thoughts and we look forward to a very Spirited and engaging session. Thank you for coming. We're delighted to have you here Well, that's correct as john said I was here last december And then the once in a lifetime have is no storm Marooned me here for at least two days The airport was closed The next day They said the flights were not sure to go So I decided to beat the hasty retreat and went to new york and I got my flight there. So I think The bud weather is stalking me. So here I am again Mr. John Hummerer Ambassador John Negroponte, Mr. Ernest Bauer Guests of the CSIS Friends I am pleased and immensely honored to be asked to speak before this inaugural Banyan tree leadership forum And I thank the center for strategic and international studies CSIS For its very gracious invitation These are north worthy initiative CSIS has taken To bring together leaders from southeast asia and the united states In genuine dialogue In our rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world Dialogue is vital for forging and framing responsive and timely policies And indeed through dialogue and consensus building Southeast asia at the united states have much to learn from each other From deeper engagement to cooperation broader than in the past It is in this spirit that I welcome this opportunity to share with you My country's vision as well as its policies and in the context of the emerging asian Regional architecture its relations and ties with the united states In 1898 America's manifest destiny And the filipino's aspiration for freedom Clust and collided in a bloody guerrilla war Ending with the capture of our president Emilio Aguinaldo And the demise of asia's first republic Over time the bitterness of defeat and the triumphalism of empire Gave way to grudging collaboration Then evolving into mutual trust and respect filipino's won america's admiration for their patriotism love of country And their steadfast and unwavering resolve to be free And the united states committed itself to ever greater measures of self-government for its pacific empire Eventually we achieved home rule through through a commonwealth in 1935 And the pleds within a decade of full independent The outbreak of the second world war strengthened even more the ties That joined the filipines and the united states In all of asia Only the filipino stood as one shoulder to shoulder with america and its allies in the war against aggression And the axis powers For both our countries our peoples filipinos and americans Freedom and democracy are not just abstract ideas Or principles they are real day to day values we are willing to defend Values for which we are willing to defend and pay the ultimate price Then in the 1940s From the foxholes of baton and the tunnels of corredor To the barbarous death march to capas and camp odonel Now against extremism poverty and terrorism At war's end in 1946 The filipines finally attained Its hard earned and blood earned independence And with the signing of the 1953 mutual defense treaty The filipines became the united states First treaty ally in asia Since then relations between our two countries have continued to move forward And positively They have matured into a partnership between sovereign equals Defense cooperation has widened from joint military training exercises To cooperation in dealing with non-traditional security threats Terrorism pandemics natural disasters and transnational crime The visiting forces agreement Whose validity the filipine supreme court has affirmed no less than three times And its security engagement board seek to improve the defense capabilities of our two countries As well as its soft and hard power to counter terrorist threats And radical attacks In the quest for a just and lasting peace in Mindanao The united states is the filipine's staunch ally in its effort to conclude a peace agreement with the moral islamic liberation front Meanwhile development cooperation Continues to improve the quality of governance and strengthening democratic institution and processes With the recent unanimous reselection of the filipines as compact eligible By the millenium challenge corporation The partnership programs between our two countries on poverty reduction and good governance Was launched as for trade and economic linkages. They continue to flourish American companies are investing heavily in filipine service industries the key ones being electronics assembly and the business process outsourcing As well as a newly opened industry industrial sector such as mining and non conversion conventional energy sources People-to-people connections too are being constantly reinforced and renewed The estimated four million americans of filipino descent With their strong and active participation involvement in u.s. Government and politics and the 250,000 citizens residing in the filipines are leaving proof of how vigorous these ties are In the aftermath of the typhoons katsana and parma the u.s. Also led The international community in providing relief and recovery assistance to the filipines Total u.s. Assistance after the typhoons raised millions of cash contributions as well as in kind The u.s. Congress also passed house resolution 800 Which expressed condolences to the victims? Of said typhoon and our urge president barack obama To continue supporting the filipines with emergency relief supplies logistical and transport facilities assistance and financial support Of course the political lands leadership of our two countries provide direction and impetus To broader collaboration and cooperation President obama recognizes the special ties Between our two nations and appreciates the filipines contributions To international efforts to organize a more peaceful more progressive and more prosperous world When he received president gloria macapagal arroyo at the white house last june The first asian head of state and for that matter head of government to be so received President obama noted that the filipines punches About its weight in the international arena That remark is telling Since it speaks volumes not just about the united states view of our bilateral ties But also of washington's view of the filipines potential role in the new regional architecture emerging in asia asia pacific is a region of immense diversity in asian alone This diversity has enriched the region Through its cultures its languages its histories its colonial experiences its forms of government Its religious practices and its political system At any other time in history and in any other region This kind of diversity might have led to endless ethnic and religious strife and conflict Asian however has resisted polarization and confrontation Over the years since its founding four decades ago Asian has evolved into a community that through dialogue and consensus seeking resolves its disputes Yet dialogue in diversity while a strength is also a challenge For a southeast asia grapples with Pressing issues and urgent developments its need for concerted action becomes more and more More and more regional challenges transcend national borders These challenges have become increasingly interrelated and most often shared And these solutions require an integrated and interlinked approach Security issues beset many of our states Territorial disputes remain potential power kegs of conflict Terrorism still rears its ugly head Extremism continues to take root among the political politically disenfranchised and economically marginalized The threat of nuclear proliferation lingers Casting its shadow of uncertainty over the whole of asia pacific And grinding poverty remains intractable despite the economic successes many of our nations have achieved Gaps in primary health care and in basic education need to be bridged sooner than later Environmental degradation in dangerous individuals communities and countries Global warming and climate change threatened to reverse gains achieved At so great cost by modernizing economies The competition for dwindling oil and energy resources has added another dimension to the already complex relations in the region Where oil and gas reserves are believed to be found in and around the disputed islands in the south china sea It is disputed between the philippines china vietnam malaysia And brunay Piracy on the high seas disrupt the flow of vital goods in the heart of asian The strait of malacca That is the key chalk point in asia where about 40 percent of the world's trade passes through On 50,000 Bessels that plights waters every year No single state no matter how powerful No one nation no matter how rich Can cope with all of these concerns all by itself This is why our need for multilateral cooperation is so crucial In our collaborative effort to shape a regional architecture Supportive of dialogue It is in this context that sub regional organizations are being formed And at least two attempts already made to organize true pan asian organization Asian stands at the center of this emerging power structure taking shape in asia From five original charter members in 1967 Asian is expended its membership to ten Brunei Cambodia indonesia laos malaysia Myanmar the philippines singapore thailand and vietnam Asian has not only prevented the outbreak of regional conflict The rejuvenated political stability it brought about By incorporating the three states of communist in the china Transformed southeast asia into one of the world's most dynamic economic regions With its adoption of a historic charter in 2008 Asian has vested itself with full legal status It has also enshrined its fundamental values democracy Respect for human rights and fundamental freedom good governance and the rule of law In the absence of a pan asian organization that provides a mechanism for dialogue Asian has become the nucleus of regional dialogue and cooperation Not only is asian integrating its national economies And it's bearing growth and development in the larger east asia region It is also addressing security and development issues within and beyond southeast asia Even with the advent of other regional asian organizations as a start The shanghai cooperation organization and apek Asian remains the core of many efforts to secure a peaceful progressive And prosperous asia pacific Given china's rise and with both japan and south korea wanting to play bigger roles in asia Asian is the only organization with a ready mechanism for engaging engaging these three northeast asian powers whether individually or collectively The asian formula for engaging china economically asian plus one Comes fully on stream this year after several years of early harvest And asian is confident An east asian economic grouping of asian 10 plus three cannot be far behind Since japan and korea surely cannot stay away from the world's great free trade area Rising at their very doorsteps For his part japan's prime minister hato yama proffers the idea of an east asia community with japan china and korea At its core this proposal Is still being considered by the asian nations Other asian and asia pacific powers regard asian as an important dialogue partner Among them is india whose economic and political footprint is growing bigger and bigger New delhi in pursuit of economic modernization has adopted a look east policy australia new zealand and russia Increasingly identify themselves with asia All three are also asian dialogue partners australia has brought the regional need for an overarching body That would occupy cover a broad spectrum of cooperation Prime minister radd has proposed creating an asia pacific community with the pan regional mandate That covers the full policy spectrum Beyond its regular dialogue partners asian has also engaged other members In a security forum under the asian regional forum that includes pakistan and dprk Indeed When we hosted the asian summit, uh, we were able to invite dprk to attend the six party talk that was the first outside of china and of course ambassador john agrepente was there representing the philippines The vitality of its trade and investment networks is also a key factor in asian's prominent role within the region The 10 asian states make up a market of close to 600 million people With a combined gross domestic product of nearly one and a half trillion us dollars Collectively we are a very important trading partner for the us The 10 member countries of asian comprise the fourth largest Export market of the united states and its fifth largest two-way trading partner Trade between the us and asian continues to grow steadily And two-way trade in goods total what totaled 177 billion us dollars in 2008 us export to asian Amounted to 66.9 or that's 67 billion in 2008 only slightly behind exports to china Which registered 69.7 or 70 billion in the same year Along with other asian economies asian economies Have shown the greatest resiliency Amid the global economic downturn and they are among those leading the way towards recovery from the financial crisis Amid this interplay of interest one might ask What role can the united states continue to play in reshaping the regional power structure? And how can relations between the philippines and the united states be strengthened? Amid the converging and diverging national positions at regional level The united state maintains a strong and constant presence in the asia pacific The whole of the asian continent continues to respect its military power and its ideological attraction One year into president obama's term I believe that asian u.s relations have been given a fresh impetus and has entered an even more dynamic phase Very early in his administration President obama signaled a willingness to dialogue and to update vehicles of cooperation with its asian Partners and his avowed policy of reengaging asia was welcomed by leaders in the region Not a few were curious as to how much he would march action with his rhetoric In the months that followed the u.s acted swiftly and convincingly made manifest the priority accords its relationship with the asia pacific state In what is perhaps the strongest signal of its reengagement with southeast asia The obama administration at the first possible opportunity Acceded to the southeast asia treaty of amity and cooperation TAC where its predecessors had feared to tread Then secretary of state hillary rodman clinton made several trips to the region Including to the philippines Making sure wherever she went to convey the abiding american interest in maintaining regional peace progress and stability President obama himself embarked to visit key partners such as china South korea and japan He also received at the hawaii house asian leaders such as the indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and of course our own president arroyo The series of high level visits President obama and secretary clinton made to east asia signaled a rekindling A warming of both bilateral and regional ties This american initiatives Signaled that the u.s is reengaging asia Not just to challenge any rising regional power They demonstrate america's recognition of the value and importance of the individual asian countries and their critical role in advancing peace stability and security throughout asia pacific Its special ties with the philippines have proved to be an anchor Of the u.s engagement in the asia pacific philippine-us relations are a strategic partnership Nurtured not only by enduring historical ties But also by an adherence to shared values Especially by a commitment to political freedom representative democracy and individual enterprise From combating extremism to waging a war against poverty The partnership between our two countries is multifaceted and forward-looking Compelled as we were by shared interest and complementary priorities to meet global and regional challenges We expect to open fresh avenues for greater cooperation in the coming years Ours is a long-standing and well-established alliance with secretary clinton herself described recently As among the most successful bilateral partnerships in modern history The best measure of the success of this partnership. I believe Extends beyond the confines of our bilateral relations The philippines is a country with a global outlook that is also deeply aware of its regional responsibility We are intent on enhancing our contributions to the region and the community of nations As current coordinator of the asian-us dialogue relations We managed a milestone early on The convening last november Of the first meeting ever between the leaders of all 10 asian countries and the american president in singapore A second leaders meeting is to be held this year We're also working to establish an asian-us eminent persons group that will give both visionary focus And pragmatic advice to our dialogue relation On human rights, the philippines continues to be a strong ally of the united states in protecting and promoting basic individual rights in the region Our country strongly endorsed the creation of a human rights body within asian And is actively engaged in putting together the mechanisms for such body And ours is the strongest And sometimes solidary voice in asian calling for the unconditional release Of osang su chi and for concrete progress on miamars tortures rolled to democracy Starting with the freeing of osang su chi and the nld leaders And allowing all of them if they so desire to participate in the election in september Otherwise the philippines said that such an election would be a farce of miamars own roadmap to democracy For the east asian security The u.s philippine mutual defense alliance is a key stabilizing influence At the same time collaboration between the philippines and american defense and security establishment Under our visiting forces agreement Facilitates the collective effort to neutralize extreme elements operating clandestinely in the region Collaboration among our police and intelligence agencies in keeping down the notorious abu sayab groove jama'a islamaya islamia And other terrorist groups linked with al qaeda have limited their ability to disrupt the lives of east asians Who want only to go on with their lives in peace In recognition of our vital role We were acknowledged by the united states as a major non-nato ally in october 2003 The first to be recognized asats in southeast asia us assistance to the philippines as a reason over the years and we get our fair share of official development assistance Of course, we know by now that fanatic terrorism and radical insurgency Cannot be defeated decisively by the force of arms alone Winning the support of ordinary people for our aims and our efforts must override All other goals That is why we in the philippines With american support Now combine soft and hard power to counter terrorist threats and radical attacks To build long-term peace and development especially In the strategic minna now Island for this same reason We are at the forefront of global efforts to build bridges of understanding between peoples of the great religions through interfaith dialogues We found this dialogue useful in heading off extremist appeals to people who have been marginalized by material poverty And disenfranchised by spiritual alienation In march this year the philippines will host the special non-aligned movement For a ministerial meeting on interfaith dialogue for peace and development This meeting will move further along the Discrucial initiative that the philippines steered to the united nation system This year to our two countries have a unique opportunity To move against the global threat of nuclear proliferation We shall be working relentlessly for the success of the nuclear security summit Called by president obama In mid april in which here in washington in which president arroyo has been invited to take part In the following month of may the philippines will assume the presidency of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty review conference in new york With potential nuclear powers being asian powers the problem of nuclear proliferation is compelling for our home region Another grave challenge that demands concerted effort is climate change Which we can ease only By severe austerities in energy use and in protecting the environment and we hope That from the failure in kopenhagen Something concrete happens Binding treaty with verifiable international monitoring Somewhere between now and mexico The joint efforts of the asia pacific countries and of the united states in the coral triangle initiative Have attracted awareness and support for programs that aim to protect marine Biodiversity while also protecting the livelihoods of about 120 million people in seacoast communities in the area Around the philippines papua new guinea malaysia indonesia the solomon islands Amid the evolving Lastly it is clear that as regional and global realities evolve So too will the dynamic ties between the philippines and the united states Amid the evolving regional architecture in the asia pacific One thing remains constant We who share political and moral ideals and values must continue to deepen our engagement with one another Even as we seek to broaden our engagement with the others Thank you Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary. I'd like to uh now ask a good friend and Definitely an imminent person when it comes to the u.s. Philippine relationship and us aussian relationship man Who's put in many hours on on these? These issues john negra ponte To say a few words about the secretaries Remarks and lead us into some discussion. We have an open Question and answer period as you know Ambassador negra ponte is former deputy secretary of state. He's the first ever director of national intelligence us perm rep to the un ambassador to iraq And had nearly 40 years of service for 40 years in the foreign service ambassador to honduras mexico and perhaps most importantly this morning ambassador to the to the philippines He was much loved when he was there as a great leader I had the honor to work closely with him when I was president of the us aussian business council And we we did a lot of work on on that relationship when he was there. He provided tremendous leadership So please join me in welcoming john negra ponte to say a few words Thank you, ernie. Thank you secretary romulo for your very uh complete review of both the us philippine relations and the situation In southeast asia and in east asia Generally, I I know that most people in the audience really want to hear What you have to say and and follow up with questions And and we'll want to make comments, but let let me say a few Brief words first of all as ernie mentioned I was ambassador to the philippines from 1993 to 1996 which is a An interesting period because I was the first post bases ambassador if you will We got to manila about a year after the last ship had Wade anchor out of uh Of subic bay, so it Be fell Me and my team to sort of pursue the other aspects of the relationship which Uh, frankly turned out to be extremely interesting and uh, there was life after bases and uh I think we found an awful lot to do At the time president fidel ramos was the president of the country and and one of the Focuses of the relationship at the time and I think it was very important because it captured a lot of the history that Secretary romulo was referring to earlier. We were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of world war two And which president ramos determined would be celebrated in the following manner that we would have the reenactment Of all the key battles That led to the liberation of the country starting with the landing in leite In october of 1944 therefore october of 1994 And actually it was a kind of a hollywood production the first uh seem an american actor playing the role of uh macArthur He sort of tripped getting out of the landing craft some people say that's what macArthur did the first time But it was really very very interesting and we went all the way to bag In uh, I guess it was late august of 94 and that's In the ambassadors residence there and the high commissioners where they signed the the The armistice so that that was a very meaningful experience president clinton came out of course he came out for for a visit and so There was a lot going on. I I go back to in my own career all the way to 1967 I was working in the political section in sygon at the time I don't know if bob miller was there then or he already left Sygon, but I recall that we were in the in the political section. We were looking at this news about asian We wonder what that means Because it wasn't billed then as a political or a strategic kind of organization. It was more like social and economic if I remember care Correctly and it was kind of loosely Worded it wasn't a particularly Concrete organization at that time. So it's really interesting to see how something that starts in a kind of a Rather general way has emerged and evolved into the complexity of arrangements and meetings and fora that you Described in your in your talk and to go from the original five to now ten and actually I guess brunai was the first one to come along in addition to the The the founders, but it's fascinating to see how that has evolved and I think it's Extremely positive I do think east asia still It's not clear yet to my way of thinking or obvious exactly what Ultimate architecture might emerge from this entire situation when I was deputy secretary one of the The jobs I had was to follow a bit the six-party talks on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and there was a working group one of the several working groups was a working group on architecture for the maintenance of peace and security in northeast asia after The satisfactory resolution of the denuclearization question and that particular working group at least as of when I left it Had had never really gotten very Far it was still at a pretty high level of Of generality, so that's all still to be determined and I think that the from a united states perspective The core element of our involvement in the east asia pacific region still is our treaty arrangements, right? It's japan, which is a real important cornerstone. It's the philippines. It's the treaty with korea australia and so forth so that's still The basic arrangement, but I think we like everybody else is open to the idea of something Else evolving over time either as a Probably not as a substitute for but as a supplement to The existing arrangements because this is probably the part of the world where The power arrangements are still the most sort of traditional if you will they're most like the 19th century I mean it's russia and china and japan the united states and big players asian if you will as a block The other thing I'd say is when I served in manila It was kind of the Heyday of economic growth In the region in 93 to 96 it was really booming and when urney Directed the asian u.s. Business council one of the highlights every year was our annual Visit it was so like a door knock we all the u.s. Ambassadors to southeast asia. We'd visit Three or four cities in the united states ending up in washington going up to visit congress And there was an enormous amount of interest in business opportunities in that part of the world And things were really humming along very very nicely And then of course the find the asian financial crisis Came the bank failures in I guess first in thailand and then the things spread to indonesia and then it became sort Of generalized and my sense is that southeast asia is kind of just coming out of that right now and So let's let's hope that that trend Continues because I think that at the moment there's a lot of untapped and unrealized potential in southeast asia You know they talk about the bricks. Okay, so that's brazil russia india and china But I think there's the the next tier There's several countries in southeast asia that you could put in that category of the next tier countries the philippines indonesia Have yet armed for sure as well. I mean just like Turkey or some of the countries and other parts of the world Egypt and so forth So I I think a lot of people are going to be looking At the economic opportunities in your part of the world over the next 10 20 years and I think there's a lot that can be gotten out of that mutually I mean by by by by both sides and In that vein, I was looking in a in a course that I I teach Looking at some demographic data the other day about The world demographic profile in the year 2050 And of course the philippines is one of those High-popular, I mean it's going to have about It's going to be within the top 12 countries in terms of population in the world In 1950 out of the top 12 Populated countries in the world five of them besides the united states were united states were oecd countries. They were japan um uk, france, italy, etc None of those countries in 2050 are going to be in the top 12 except the only Western economy if you will that'll be on that list will be the united states We will maintain our place as the third most popular. I think actually csis did the study a very it's a very very good demographic Piece of work, but the philippines figures prominently up there and what was viewed in the past is perhaps a little bit of a disadvantage to have You know a lot of demographic pressure and a lot of young people can I think In the years it had be converted into some real kind of economic advantage Provided you can educate your people adequately, but there's going to be such a shortage of working age people in the more advanced economies That I would have thought a country like the philippines has a lot to to benefit from that I maybe just lastly if If I could there is so much to say, but I know that There are Questions from the from the audience I think we ought to and and ernie. I'm sure I'll have some direction that he wants to steer us in But I do in the connection with terrorism want to mention How fate plays an interesting role here It certainly wasn't obvious to me In january of 1995 When we disrupted We that is to say basically the philippine police Disrupted a plot to blow up Nine or ten united states airliners and a plot to kill the pope on his Visit the following month. I think it was to manila That that was an al-qaeda plot And that was one of the and you know what they they come back and they keep trying to do the same things again It's uh, it's really quite interesting the to my way of thinking and and we have the philippine law enforcement authorities to thank for that and the fire department. I think which uh This all happened the the plot got revealed because it was a fire in an apartment where these fellows were playing with Chemicals. Yeah about a thousand yards from the u.s. Embassy But uh, you know, it's it's interesting with this christmas plot we have in december 25th That again, you know, there's there's they come back and they try to do some of these things over and over again Just like they attacked the world trade center And of course one of the people involved in that january episode was ramsey yusuf Who escaped back to pakistan and ultimately Uh was turned over to us and i was convicted for his role in the first world trade center bombing so It's interesting how these uh, this international terrorist situation Is linked together in so many different ways and sometimes with the benefit of hindsight You even see more connections than and you're originally appreciated So we really value and I certainly did when I was uh, Both at the u.n. And As director of national intelligence when I did take a trip in my official capacity to manila and as deputy secretary we value our Cooperation with your authorities in that area Mr. Secretary, thank you for that John thank you very much that It's really great to um, first of all hear the secretary's comments Hear your reactions. Uh, I think um, it's it's that kind of dialogue that we want to promote with this new banyan tree Forum, so thank you both for that What I'd like to do is um, open up the floor for questions I'll start with a question, but I encourage you all to to use this opportunity to have such Incredible resources here. I hope you'll take advantage and ask some good questions and and then we'll We'll look to uh to wrap up, but I wanted to ask uh, some something that you didn't really touch on But of course when we think about the philippines, it's it's on our minds Of course, you have an election coming up in may And and we've been following it very closely with a lot of interest As foreign secretary, I won't ask you for too political a question, you know domestic politics, I know May not have you know may not be What you want to talk about here, but I think for us, you know We're looking at the candidates and I think one of the big questions that that I have is Do you see uh either Any of the main camps? likely to change sort of the core focus of the philippine foreign policy you've outlined You've outlined the stance of the philippines over Over a quite a broad period and certainly brought us up to date and the philippines leadership has been Really important. Should we expect any changes and uh, what do you see in the in the near future in the philippines? The elections as you know will take place in may of this year. So that's barely Four months from now And we will have an automated election. This is the first time that automation will be there and I think uh, everybody's geared to that To make sure Starting from the president the administration and of course the all the candidates that it should be a fair clean and credible election We have to make sure that it's clean fair and credible And I think all efforts are directed towards that objective Now as to who will win That of course is Is a question that I would not like to vent you to to guess at this point But if you look at the polls, there are certainly two candidates who are ahead at Well to name names one is Uh senator benigno akino the third And of course, we know who benigno akino the third is the other one is the former senate president senator manuel villar Now, uh And of course, there are others who are running I think there are six more who are running But uh, if we focus on this too I believe that by and large They will look at the foreign policy That we have pursued And well for instance our foreign policy Reflects fundamental principles That reflect the national interest in our global outlook so So on that basis For instance, what are the Foreign policy objectives that we have we have the three pillars, which is the The promotion the protection of the rights and promotion of the interest and welfare of philippines abroad. Well, I would not Say that they would debate from that Another pillar that we have is the Is the Preservation and enhancement of national security again these are embodied in Many of our programs including the visiting forces agreement, you know And then there is the The promotion and attainment of economic security Again, we are involved here in the in the visits and programs that we have with all countries And then we have eight realities of our foreign policy. What are these eight realities? Well the first Well, not necessarily in that order, but let me mention the first that Our relations with china japan in the u.s Would have a determining influence as far as the security situation And economic Advancement is concerned So again, we hope that they will pursue Those realities the second one is more and more our Policy decisions will be in the context of asian and i've just described what asian is all about the The international islamic community will have More and more Influence on how we see things You see we have 10 percent of our population is muslim We are engaged in becoming an observer in the organization of islamic Countries and we have good relations with With the islamic community and that's the reason why In march, we are hosting the The special numb Ministerial meeting on interfaith dialogue We we are inviting We're inviting all but we're inviting the muslim Leaders and countries to attend that Then of course The other foreign policy reality we have is our relations with multilaterals with the united states And and the regional relation asian is one of them East asia Forum is another one of them east asia forum being asian 10 plus japan korea china india australia And new silan so these are the foreign policy realities that we have and of course We just passed our baselines law And the reason why we passed that baselines law is because there is a deadline In the united nations And we passed that baseline law and it is under this administration That we finally have a baselines law and and it can extended Continental shelf Because we want other countries to respect our territorial integrity our sovereignty Now you cannot have a territory integrity if you don't have A baselines law so we we passed that so all of these You know are The three pillars of our foreign policy the eight realities of our foreign policy our Spousal of interfaith dialogue We are going to be the president of the non proliferation treaty review committee in may So all of these are fundamental principles Which reflect our national interest and I I would say that The the candidates whoever they are Should pursue these policies Can I if I could if I could ask you a question mr. Secretary because I thought it was interesting what you said about the relationship with china japan And the united states, but I was wondering if you see other countries growing in Importance in terms of your foreign policy you mentioned india earlier and I was wondering are they do you sense that they For example are seeking to play A greater role For example in commercial activities. I know they now have a very dynamic business sector And has that have you been working on that aspect of your foreign policy and foreign economic relations? In fact, uh, india has this policy of luk east And it includes of course the ashan and the other countries in the east and we are Developing a robust relations in in economics in political Relations with india And we have had high level visits with india Both the president of india Visiting the philippines and our president visiting india and And in fact, we are going to have bilateral Consultation between the foreign minister of india and myself Sometime in the latter part of march so I think India and the philippines and I think Ashan have are developing Good relations And that is why india as well as china japan and korea and australia and new zealand are part of the east asia forum And they're also dialogue partners of Of ashan And so I think We are well placed there in our relation both asian and the philippines Thank you. I'm gonna throw the floor up and chris. I saw your hand first and tom sure yeah chris star vall I actually work for myself, but I do a lot of work in the philippines with The president and with the foreign secretary I have a question that kind of goes to what you were talking about on this persistence of These terrorist groups And and the the nexus to the philippines and elsewhere But we've seen increased american cooperation A lot of boots on the ground and and intelligence work in the south of the philippines We've been working to wipe out the abu saif and the ji and yet they are persistently There and still I don't know if they're strong But they haven't gone away and then there's some indications that they're It's gone up and I'm curious What the dinant what the factors are that allows them to continue to thrive and in other words is it driven by Conditions in the philippines. Is it a regional thing because of the there's The these these groups move between indonesia. Malaysia The philippines. I'm just curious. Why have we not been able to Contain once and for all these these groups in the some of those remote islands of the philippines Well, we we are doing our best not only in the philippines, but in the region and One of the reasons why we feel that the visiting forces agreement Is very relevant and very important is because it gives our Our intelligence our police and our military the the tools in order to improve their capability and capacity Especially the intelligence fusion And and of course we pull all this intelligence not only with the u.s. But also with our neighbors And of course there are other factors involved. That's why we are saying that We cannot decisively defeat terrorism just by force of arms We have to have the the soft and the hard power And one of the soft power of course is livelihood economic development peace That is why we are so We are so focused on having that peace agreement With the mlf because once we have the peace agreement then development is sure to follow It's when you have an unresolved conflict that You know investments and people are not ready to To put their investments there But also part of the soft power is the interfaith dialogue And you know the the bishop ulama conference in the philippines the bishop are the christians catholic and the muslims They are able to to go to the roots To the grassroots and neutralize the extremist And hopefully bring them to the center and of course like i said We are going to have a conference This march with the non-aligned movement But we invite all those interested in Interfaith dialogue for peace and development So between the hard power which we are trying to to improve our capabilities Including the intelligence fusion and the soft power Then we hope that we will continue to minimize I think the problem will be there for some time. So I don't think that it will completely disappear But we have neutralized a lot of these Abu Sayyaf Jamia islamia and other terrorist group connected with al qaeda And I think it's a constant struggle but We also feel that it's development in the area That will improve the lives of the people in the area who by the way are tired of This conflict and violence So that finally will be the one to Bring peace and stability in the region and in the philippines Thank you. John. Did you want to comment on that only to ask or comment I think i'm right in saying that while it may not be completely contained it is It's not generalized throughout the country and in that sense. It's it is localized, I think And so in that sense while it's not an ideal situation. It's you could say it's a manageable situation I saw tom and then dug is next Mr. Secretary, I'm tom rechford with the world affairs council in the malaysia america society You've spoken eloquently about azean and about the philippines promotion of democracy human rights and the rule of law Yet, you've also talked about the issues involving consensus making Decision making in azean and I wonder if you could share with us Some of the efforts of the philippines to promote Democracy human rights And some of the frustrations in in dealing with a system that makes it difficult to come out with Fourth right decisions That's a good question because You have to be patient And you are dealing with consensus building. You have to be patient. It doesn't come immediately and One very good good case to to highlight that is the case of myan mar In the case of myan mar We keep on passing resolution That the myan mar should Honor the roadmap to democracy that they themselves Presented and promised will happen and and we say in order to Make a reality at least at the beginning of the realization of that road map to democracy They should free osang su chi We know we all know that the charges against her is is a farce. It's Something that In in the ordinary courts of law in in our country and other countries who have been thrown out, you know So we say free her and also allow Her and the nld To be part and participate in the september election if they saw desire Let us remember that osang su chi and the nld Won overwhelmingly when was that 10 years ago? 89 they won overwhelmingly the election and But this was not honored You know, I am probably the only foreign minister in the asian who has met osang su chi That was in 1995 or 96 when she was still not confined And she was telling me and then the foreign minister our foreign minister then At the time I was a senator. She was telling me. She was telling us that you know, I do not want to kick out the the junta We won but we will uh rule together with them And he said if they accept this then I think we can we can evolve eventually to to real democracy A real election But we don't want that to happen immediately 1995 1996 that was more than 10 years ago and at the time she was free So So we have to be patient because I still believe that we have to have consensus We cannot just Use force against them for instance, but also there is the reality That uh, we may we may not have The cohesion with the other powers Just like in iran, you know in iran I read in the papers that they have to talk with china, you know in order to impose the sanctions, you know So it's it's a working process in in uh in the case of bian mar And in the case of dpr k Well, of course you have to contend with china also But also in the case of me and my india And even some of these asian countries because they have Well, you know, uh They have commercial interests, you know, so all of these but In my view, uh, it's better to continue Negotiation Consensus building trying to build up public pressure against The me and my god, so it is in that sense that to us we welcome the re-engagement of the united states in berma I think With that visit of senator jim webb And then followed by assistant secretary campbell I think this is this step in the right direction after all Uh, we have not done that Except the un for the last 10 years So it's it's time to change a new uh to adopt a new talk, so I guess it's not a satisfactory answer, but We cannot be too impatient about it, you know, thank you secretary dug Good morning, mr. Secretary. I'm dug a heart to a retired diplomat Uh an international trade consultant now And I'd like to turn you to the world of of of trade relations And trade agreements in in asia and in southeast asia, I think For many years I followed our trade relations with asian having served in malaysia and laos and other places um, and Even to this day coming back here to washington and watching how our trade Trade is evolving with the region. You gave some interesting statistics. It's obviously a very Important dynamic as it has been as ambassador Negarpanti referred to back to the early 90s when The ambassador tour was on and there was a lot of excitement and he was there. I was there Now as I watch southeast asian I watch asian general The picture is beginning to shift a little bit. I think for the united states And that is we see india with a free trade agreement With southeast a with asian We see asian plus three evolving in the direction particularly on the economic side of reducing barriers Facilitating trade and investment with china specifically but also with with korea and japan And I get the sense increasingly of sort of the united states despite its great economic Spread and power increasingly on the outside watching not so much barriers thrown up to the united states But barriers for all the asian countries themselves coming down Which has the same effect if you will I'd be interested in your views about what do you think Uh Needs to be done To help promote, uh, whether it's formally through through agreements or Informally through other actions Uh A way of making sure that the united states role and involvement in southeast asia economic Growth and trade and investment remains as strong today as it has been in in decades past You know, we have been hoping That at davos the so many world economic forum that Many leaders have been attending And we always talk to peter lamy That eventually The doha round Will be will be a reality because I think that's really is the answer to all of this But there are certain factors that Have that made that a reality There are certain countries involved Uh in the uh in asian Starting january 1st We have the asian free trade agreement with china With japan with korea with india With australia and new zealand so And we are working on our bilateral agreements With each of these uh countries Now I believe that the united states Should still be an economic factor after all for the last so many years or decades The united states has given A security umbrella as well as market access To the countries in asia That's perhaps one of the reasons why The what you call that the tigers in asia, you know have prospered But uh In the 21st century as liqa and you were saying, you know The 21st century Would be important the battleground for supremacy in the pacific and The united states should continue Not to lose ground but to gain ground in the pacific in asia. Otherwise They they cannot be world leaders So, uh I don't know what to advise the united states, but I think The united states even as it provides security umbrella The market access of course is a little bit diminished because of the Economic downturn, but the united states must continue to be present in asia pacific Can I can I follow up with it? Well, what about an asian us free trade agreement? Well, I think we have now the tifa The trade investment framework agreement But we have to move forward beyond that and And I think the us has with singapore Such a free trade agreement, but I am not aware that they have with other countries Including the philippines You've been involved in these I have yeah the current status We have a free trade agreement with singapore, of course And we tried to negotiate free trade agreements with thailand and melasia. They got stuck And I and the new trade policy For asia for the united states that the president I was able to commit to ahead of his trip to To asian that he announced in japan was the commitment to negotiate the tpp Which I think There's a lot of questions about that What is the us trade policy? What are we really doing with the tpp? And I think asian I'm glad you I'm glad this was brought out because I think the united states really has to think about it in terms of a strategy What are we going to do with this tifa that we have with asian? Do we need to step that up into a full fta discussion? And so far it's been just too hard Not the time to do trade because of the political environment here But I think these are hard questions that americans have to ask So you would say though, I mean just objectively is it the The stumbling block been us or asian it's been us Up until now It's what would let me ask the secretary though, but would the asian would would would you welcome a free trade agreement with the united states? I think Early in the administration of president orio, you know, of course the tifa was good, but but I think in asian we would like to have a free trade agreement In fact, what we want to have is the doha the World trade free trade agreement whatever you call that, you know, and I remember that during the time of the previous administration Uh, we were told that they were rushing this because There was more likelihood of it passing the congress at the time That the new congress, you know, I don't know if that's still true, you know, but But that was really the the issue And of course there are other countries there like like If I recall brazil and then india, so these are the countries that are the The super bowl players We have time for maybe one or two more questions laura. Did you Is there another question In the back Hey foster clue with the associated press. I wanted to ask you again about berma and sanctions The u.s. Administration has said they're willing to talk to berma But they reserve the right to impose even harsher sanctions Should some of the things they're looking for in democracy and su chi not pan out. Is that something that the philippines Supports and would azian members Support any kind of strengthening of sanctions if berma continues to stall and not show progress on democracy. Thanks Let me let me be Candid about You know the problems there Because it's not only asian that has Relations with with with berma or me and mar And so unless we can get together, you know, of course, even in asian we may have a problem with sanctions, you know But assuming that we get the asian together But it's not only the asian but other countries around, you know Who have big investments in in berma like You know, they're developing pipelines to berma. They're developing Infrastructure, you know, when I went to nape do again, I was invited when we were chair of the asian summit You know, there was There was nothing in nape do that is the new administrative capital, you know from rangoon. They went to nape do But they told me that the The chinese were building the airport The runway and the facilities there now. I've not been back there But those who have been there tell me that the airport is now built and they have hotels and and you know, they have They have houses and structures. So you see these are the things, you know So so it's a tough thing, you know, uh, if we cannot resolve the Uh, the dprk that's the new denuclearization of the korean peninsula If we are having difficulty with The ia ea and iran, you know, I mean What is the priority of mayan mar and berma? I mean I asked that question But we have to be patient that's what I always say we have to be patient Than a lot of patients I think we have one more question in the back And that'll be the last question. Sure. Uh, shan tanden with with afp extra is going to ask something similar to foster's question But um related to berma as well with the elections, uh coming up What's the sense that you get do you sense that you mentioned september as a date for them? Do you get the sense from from your context there that it's it's certainly going to go ahead? In september and do you get a sense that there is a possibility What's what's your assessment of whether opposition figures May be able to to participate. What's your assessment of the what do you think currently is the situation there with the election? Let me say That I believe the elections would go through in september around the time And I believe that perhaps from what we hear that osang suchi would be released before the election But whether they would uh repeal or amend the law which prohibits osang suchi if so desire to run And certain members of the nld I'm not sure that they would do that and therefore to all intents and purposes. There is an election They would have some nld members But uh osang suchi for one reason or another and some few members will be disqualified from running So and so we have issued a strong statement That if this is so Then it's a mockery of bermas own roadmap to democracy I just got back from Bangkok and I I can tell you that that's sounds pretty accurate. I talked to some bermes there and That looks like that's about my understanding too Of the situation, but happy to follow up with you if you if you're interested ton shun Ladies and gentlemen, would you join me in giving a big hand to the secretary and