Embassy of the United States Manila, Philippines

July 13, 2009

In keeping with ongoing high-level engagement between the United States and the Philippines on issues of importance to both countries, Mr. Leon E. Panetta, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, visited the Philippines on July 12 to meet with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and senior officials of the Philippine Government. Mr. Panetta’s visit also included a trip to the American Cemetery in Manila, where he and his wife placed a wreath in honor of U.S. and Filipino World War II service members who gave their lives in the pursuit of freedom (as seen in photo). Mr. Panetta’s visit demonstrates the strong commitment of the United States to long-term collaboration and partnership with the Philippine Government on a broad range of issues of mutual interest. 

Mr. Panetta has a long and distinguished career of public service. Before becoming the 19th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on 13 February 2009, he and his wife, Sylvia, co-directed the non-partisan Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based at California State University, Monterey Bay. From July 1994 to January 1997, Mr. Panetta served as Chief of Staff to President Clinton. Prior to that, he was Director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position that built on his years of work on the Budget Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mr. Panetta represented California’s 16th (now 17th) Congressional District from 1977 to 1993, rising to Budget Committee chairman during his final four years in Congress.