Hillary Clinton arrives in Malacañang for bilateral meet with PNoy

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived at Malacañang Palace Wednesday morning for an expanded bilateral meeting with President Benigno Aquino III. Clinton arrived around 11:30 am and was ushered to the Aguinaldo State Dining Hall to sign the guestbook. She was welcomed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, among others. Clinton is in the country to sign an economic partnership agreement and strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries. She arrived in Manila Tuesday afternoon. She came from the Asia Pacific Economic Conference in Hawaii and will proceed to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Indonesia later Wednesday. PFG initiative The bilateral meeting between Aquino and Clinton will be held at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room in Malacañang. It will be followed by the signing of the Partnership for Growth agreement by Clinton and Del Rosario which will be witnessed by President Aquino. Clinton will then go to the US Embassy’s reception hall where she will deliver remarks at the ceremony to launch the implementation phase of the PFG. The PFG initiative is a joint Philippine-US undertaking promoting and supporting broad-based economic growth of emerging markets like the Philippines. It aims to assist selected countries to achieve higher and sustained economic growth through a more transparent, predictable, and consistent legal and regulatory regime. The PFG also supports a more open and competitive business environment, assists countries to strengthen their rule of law that is grounded in an efficient court system as well as supporting their fiscal stability. The Philippines is the only one in Asia to be included in the PFG initiative and one of the four pilot partner countries selected by the US. The other countries are Tanzania, El Salvador and Ghana. The selection of the Philippines as a PFG partner country in January 2011 was based on the country’s track record in partnering with the US government and its potential for continued economic growth. The PFG initiative is an effort to put into practice US President Barack Obama’s presidential policy directive on global development. Mutual Defense Treaty Aside from the meeting with Aquino, Clinton is also in the country to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). At the MDT anniversary celebration to be held on board the USS Fitzgerald, Clinton is expected to sign a Manila Declaration that will reaffirm the US commitment under the MDT so that the two countries could work together on issues of mutual interests. In the afternoon, Clinton will hold a live social media conversation dubbed as “A Conversation in Manila" with Filipino youth, bloggers, social media personalities, and campus journalists. The event will be aired live exclusively on GMA News TV, and livestreamed (gmanews.tv/livestream) on GMA News Online. — RSJ, GMA News