The Philippines and the U.S. have had a strong relationship with each other for a very long time now. We have a shared history. We have shared values, democracy, freedom, and we have been in all the wars together in modern history, the World War, Second World War, Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, now the war on terrorism.

I believe that the war against terrorism and the war against poverty in these times of turmoil go together. So you - when you fight one, you have to fight the other.

In 1995, we had evidence of the brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden being in the Philippines, living in the Philippines. We had evidence of front organizations set up in the Philippines. And we uncovered evidence about, which would help the U.S. with - about the perpetuators of the World Trade Center bombing.

In a global arena, what our businessmen need in order to be competitive is transparency and a level playing-field.

While there's been much progress on terrorism, there's still much work to do and it is very important that the countries work together in order to address this threat together.

Filipino businessmen must have the ability to compete freely in the global economy.

In the time one is given, the steward must make the most of the talents one is given by the Lord.