Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter, center, meets with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., right, at the Malacañang Palace in Manila, Philippines, on March 19, 2013. Carter is meeting Ochoa to discuss the continued close relationship of U.S. forces and the Philippine military as well the ongoing realignment of U.S. Forces toward the Asia-Pacific region. Ochoa is the chief of staff to President Benigno Aquino III.