Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Philippines *updated*
Lots of photos and news coming in and I’ll update as more becomes available:
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton receives flowers from the Philippine delegation as she is welcomed by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney (R) during her arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila, Philippines on 12 November 2009. Clinton is in the country for a two-day visit to show solidarity with the Filipino people in the wake of destructive typhoons that hit the country recently, before heading to Singapore for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. EPA/ALANAH M. TORRALBA
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the Philippines on a visit to show support for country’s fight against extremists and its efforts to rebuild after three major storms rocked the islands.
Clinton arrived in the capital Manila on Thursday from Singapore and was meeting with top Filipino officials as well as touring U.S.-funded disaster relief projects. Her one-day trip also will focus on countering Muslim extremists who are operating in the country’s south.
Despite years of U.S. military training and assistance, Filipino troops have struggled to contain the militants, who have recently intensified attacks, blowing up bridges, firing mortar shells and setting off roadside bombs.
And this:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday vowed support for the Philippine fight against al-Qaida-linked militants and highlighted the U.S. military’s role in helping the country recover from deadly typhoons.
Clinton arrived on a two-day visit after devastating back-to-back storms last month killed nearly 1,000 people in the worst floods and landslides to hit the capital, Manila, and the country’s north in more than 40 years.
Hundreds of U.S. troops on counterterrorism exercises quickly responded with heavy equipment, ships and helicopters, cleaning streets clogged with debris and ferrying food to isolated villages.
“We were very pleased that we can respond quickly with our military assets,” Clinton told reporters. “Filipino and American doctors worked side by side to help thousands of flood victims. We saw our military forces working together to airlift thousands of tons of food, equipment and other vital cargo.”
During a visit to a three-story high school that was heavily damaged during floods in Manila’s Marikina city, Clinton announced an additional $5 million in U.S. aid. She spoke in front of hundreds of screaming students, some waving small U.S. and Philippine flags.
“We were severely devastated. I hope they will look at how much damage was caused,” said Kim Osorio, a senior at Malanday National High School.
She said a U.S.-Philippine military pact that allows the deployment of U.S. troops is an “important expression of our partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interest.”
U.S. troops will continue to provide assistance in the Philippines, Clinton said, pointing to the Visiting Forces Agreement, a cornerstone of military alliance that has been criticized by Philippine left-wing and nationalist forces.
The Philippine Senate recently passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the government to renegotiate the agreement that allows about 600 U.S. troops to train and advise Filipino soldiers battling the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf in the country’s south.
Despite years of U.S. military training and assistance, Filipino troops have struggled to contain the militants, who have recently intensified attacks, blowing up bridges, firing mortar shells and setting off roadside bombs…
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United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the Malanday National High School in Marikina City, east of Manila, Philippines 12 November 2009.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gestures during a news conference inside the Goldenberg Mansion in Malacanang in Manila, Philippines, 12 November 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) gestures as Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo looks on during a news conference inside the Goldenberg Mansion in Malacanang, Metro Manila, Philippines, 12 November 2009
Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (L) gestures beside US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her courtesy call at the Bahay Pangarap, Malacanang park, Manila, Philippines on 12 November 2009.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, right, gestures after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received the Sikatuna award with the rank of Datu, a title bestowed on tribal chiefs and monarchs in the Philippines, at the Bahay Pangarap, Malacanang park, in Manila, Philippines, 12 November, 2009. The award is conferred by the Philippine government upon diplomats, officials and nationals of foreign states who have rendered services in fostering, developing and strengthening relations between their country and the Philippines.
Some more photos:
Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton applauds during her visit to the flood-stricken Malanday National High School at Marikina city, east of Manila, Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009
Remarks while touring a book fair:
SECRETARY CLINTON: We are very proud to have so many Filipino Americans. And I’m very proud that our militaries work together, the American military and the military of the Philippines, saving lives and rescuing people, and I am very pleased that we could donate so many supplies.
Today, I am pleased to announce that there will be more than $5 million in new relief funds for the Philippines. (Applause.) This new support will help rebuild schools like this one, construct new classrooms, and provide 300,000 books and desks for 15,000 students. It will also help to repair damaged water and sanitation systems to prevent the spread of disease, and it will help to refurbish clinics to provide medical supplies and assistance.
So it is a great pleasure to be here at your school and to see all of you back in school. I know that if I had come here a week or two ago, it would not have looked like this. And so I thank everyone who worked hard to put this school back in such good shape. I also want to encourage all of the students to take advantage of your education, to study hard, to learn as much as you can learn so that you can help contribute to the future of your country.
So I learned a phrase as I was coming through, and what is that phrase? He’s trying to teach me this phrase.
PARTICIPANT: Mabuhay.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Mabuhay. (Applause.) And now we have officially opened the book fair so all of the teachers can start to get new books for their classrooms and for their students. I thank you for letting me come to your school. I congratulate you on recovering from the flood. And I promise you that the United States of America will always be a friend to the people of the Philippines. (Applause.) God bless you all. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
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So I love the picture with the little girl covering her eyes.
A the imperialist! hillary clinton, you greedy bitch! what does the US want in the philippines?! what is the CIA doing here? you here again to take our country! The US is the reason why our country is so poor today. The US will take all of our resources. our country has become a place of cheap labor. this is no democracy!
Workers of the world unite against the money grabbing politicians !!! Capitalism and fascism are two sides of the same barbarian coin… Long live great communism !!! Death to fascism and capitalism !!! Obama and Bush are the same fuckin greedy and bloodthirsty puppet bastards !!! Never condone to the capitalist masonic politician.
Okay Animal Farm much?
Sergei- communism as written in The Communist Manifesto has never been practiced- it has always been corrupted by the leaders- the proletariat never have benefited from Communism as it has been practiced- the workers of the world have never been allowed to unit in part because the Communist leaders don’t want them to unite. About the only successful Communist regime is China and that is due, in part, to their lack of adherence to some of the more justice-minded aspects of Communism as expressed in LITERATURE (but never put into practice, ever). China exists in part due to it’s quasi capital components- but it still remains to be seen if it will survive as a Communist nation- perhaps we could ask the tens of thousands of people who are in prison for doing things like (*gasp*) speaking out against the government or practicing religion.
Is Capitalism perfect- no, far from it- we can just look at the global financial crisis. The question is whether or not the US and other countries will learn from the crisis and adjust (ie. evolve) accordingly or continue down the same path once things start to improve- given we really haven’t passed any meaningful reforms nor have we even THOUGHT about increasing our manufacturing industry and relying less on countries like China, it’s difficult to be hopeful.
Sergei, maybe this is just your adopted Russian-sounding . . . okay it’s your legal name. Anyway, why don’t you go visit Lenin and MaoTse Tung in their dark graves and stay there perpetually singing your communism love song. ha ha!
I would like to hear from Secretary Clinton what the United States is doing to
address the problem of modern day slavery. A lot of our countrymen are workers in other countries in various capacity in their pursuit to provide for their families here in the Philippines. Many of them are sexually and emotionally abused by their employers. How many times have we heard and read of employers throwing boiling water or ironing the body parts of our fellowmen employed as domestic helpers? A lot of them do not have the means to fight for their cause or
at the very least come home as their passports are kept by their employers. Many of our people are also underpaid but are force to bite the bullet because of no other choice.
What can the United States do in order to bring all these human rights violations and modernday violationsin the world forum specially those committed in the Middle Eastern countries where they have different understanding of human rights?
OMG – these pictures are GREAT. she is so cute. She’s like the Madonna of politics, I cannot believe how many people showed up – can we say ROCK STAR!!!???
This monetary-ism is the big problem here. China is no less capitalistic than the US.
The rich elite that run the federal reserve are the masterminds behind all of this. what the fed does is to bury a nation in debt, so when the nation cant pay anymore you take their resources.
In this money system, if a nation has no debt theres no money in circulation..more money is more debt. this is slavery.
In a world where 1% of the population owns 40% of the planet’s wealth…in a world where 34,000 children die every single day from poverty and preventable diseases, and where 50% of the world’s population lives on less than 2 dollars a day… one thing is clear:
Something is very wrong.
I am absolutely thrilled by this. Malanday National High School is only a few blocks from the house where I grew up–it is in Barangay Malanday, Marikina City. Folks in my home town will remember this visit and talk about it for years to come. Awesome!!!
War to keep peace is a contradiction more like terrorism. I know all about you BULLSHIT US! Bush and Obama are the same. They were placed as president by the same people who run the FED. The US takes the resources of all countries and makes them very poor. And this calamity that is goin on. The US has the HAARP that can control weather conditions, earthquakes etc. Dont give us this bullshit excuses of preserving peace. Your media is bullshit CNN, NBC FOX NEWS, the information you give to people are filtered because you only want us to know what you want us to know more like SOCIAL MANIPULATION!
@WANDA dont expect anything from the No.1 terrorist of the world –The US.
About US being a superpower think again people! The US just keeps on raping small countries who dont have the capability to ward off invaders. The US is coward, capitalistic and imperialist.
Why dont you take your imperialism to Russia huh?! The US wont because Russia has the capability to ward off invaders–imperialists. US the coward!
and about your NEW WORLD ORDER its not gonna come to fruition because the SOVIET UNION will be back to stop your New WORLD ORDER!
and I do not advocate communism. all idealogies are all basically corrupt! But this imperialism and capitalism is evil!
My son, Michael, was among the Peace Corps trainees to be sworn in by Hillary Clinton on Friday 13, 2009. I would be very interested in any photos that might be shared concerning that event. I am sure other family and friends of PCV’S are searching as well! Thank you for any posts you might make.
My son, Michael, was part of the Peace Corps group which were sworn in by Hillary. I am searching the web for any photos of the event. Any and all information and pictures would be appreciated. I am sure that other PCV’s family and friends would be excited to find this information as well! Thank you for any posts.
The presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Philippines does NOT mean we should be dependent on the efforts of the U.S. to promote world peace and happiness of humanity. We are forgetting that the U.S. is also a country facing its own problems and issues, and could not be the SOLE savior of our endeavors. We should consider the presence of U.S. personalities in our country as a LEVERAGE to help us achieve our goals.
It is time to take advantage of this leverage and start doing productive things NOW. If we keep on thinking that the U.S. should be blamed because our nation is not as progressive as the other nations, we will never get out of this mess. Only the WILL of the people can bring us to the summit of our nation’s progress; the U.S. is just here to help.
NATO = Now A Terrorist Organization
NATO = North American Terrorist Organization
I salute Ratko Mladic Hero of the serbian people for defying NATO!
USSR will kick Imperialist out the world!
@griggles
US is no Country,
There is no US, only JP morgan chase, bilderbergers, rothshilds, citibank. etc.
good read, thanks
Very very interesting post..I like this one. gotta bookmark this one.
I WILL BASH THE HAMMER AND SICKLE TO OBAMA’S BRAIN…IF THE SCUM HAS ANY XD.
comrades, we live in a time that the crimes of capitalism r so evident in the world economic predicament, for in a communism there would never b a depression because we would all have what we need, we must spread the message while the capitalists r caught off guard and r trying to “fix” the problems they created in the first place, we must shout our name and have it heard where ever there r workers exploited, we shal conquer! FORWARD COMRADES, LONG LIVE COMMUNISM!
Whats with this Copenhagen treaty?! it is a deception, it must be stopped at all costs! capitalism is the threat to the world!CALLING TO ALL CITIZENS OF THE WORLD! STOP YOUR PRESIDENT FROM SIGNING THIS DREADFUL TREATY!
we need a world revolution!
http://www.marxist.com/chavez-copenhagen-we-need-world-revolution.htm