The U.S. Embassy works with many wonderful partners in Mindanao including non-governmental organizations, local governments, the Philippine government, the private sector, and international organizations.  One of our strongest partnerships is with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.  While this partnership goes back to World War II, today, this partnership has a whole new dimension.  The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military work together to build the conditions for the people of Mindanao to live in peace through many humanitarian projects.

Our militaries have partnered to enhance health care through medical missions both large and small.  Some of the smallest medical missions are called “tailgate” medical missions where the two armed forces literally pull a van into an area, open the back and begin to administer to the needs of communities – both people and animals -- that do not have access to hospitals or local medical care.   Some of the medical missions are larger, such as those hosted on board the USS Peleliu in 2007 where Armed Forces medical personnel from our two nations were joined by NGO medical personnel from both countries.  One of the most memorable partnerships is that of the USNS Mercy.  Visiting in 2006 and 2008, teams of Filipino, U.S., and other international doctors and nurses treated over 80,000 people, mostly from Mindanao.