00:00I very much appreciate your hospitality there.
00:04Our military has exercised together in Balakatan in April.
00:07The largest one in a long time, 14,000 troops, and of course,
00:10just a long-standing relationship between the United States and the Philippines.
00:14Mutual defense treaty, ironclad partnership.
00:18And I want to applaud them for their courage and their clarity in the South China Sea
00:23in recognition of the challenges that we face, shoulder to shoulder.
00:27We want peace and stability in that region, and our partnership is central to that.
00:32So thank you for your time, always, and look forward to speaking today.
00:35Yes, thank you, Secretary Hegseth.
00:37And we just came at the heels of a very successful, I must say,
00:42U.S.-ASEAN defense ministers meeting.
00:46Secretary Hegseth made a great impact.
00:49I could feel it with our counterparts here,
00:52and it is the proof of the commitment of the Trump administration,
00:56to engage in the ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific.
01:01Of course, we will continue to enhance our bilateral and multilateral relationships,
01:07all with the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,
01:13and of course, our shared interests in upholding a rules-based international order.
01:20The Philippines does seek peace, but in this instance it is important to have a sustainable peace
01:31that is based on our own resilience and alliances with like-minded partners.
01:38Thank you very much, Secretary Hegseth.
01:40We look forward to meeting in here pretty soon,
01:45and we look forward to enhancing our already robust defense relationship.
01:50That's right. Thank you.
01:52Mr. Secretary, sorry if you had a response to China's minister's absence.
01:55Thank you, Press. Let's go. Thank you, Press.
01:57We can't account for whether China engages or not.
02:01All we know is that we're here and we will be here,
02:05and we seek to further and establish peace through partnership with allies and partners in the region,
02:11but it also requires power and strength, which uniquely America can bring in pursuit of deterrence of conflict.
02:20We don't seek conflict with anybody, and that's important to emphasize.
02:25We're here to engage military-to-military, country-to-country.
02:29We can't account for whether or not China's here or not, but we're glad we are,
02:34and we think it makes the region more stable and more peaceful.
02:37I'm glad you could ask us that question, but it's hard for their citizens to ask their government why they're not here.
02:44And that's the value which we both stand here for, the ability to ask questions,
02:50to lead a free life, to have freedom of the press, and other freedoms that we enjoy.
02:54No doubt. No doubt. Thank you.
02:56All right. Thank you.
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