bilateral military exercise conducted between the u.s. military and the armed forces of the philippines. it's a key component of our alliance cooperation. the exercise features planning, operations, exchanges and activities that increase both our nations' military capabilities to provide for the mutual defense of the philippine archipelago. exercise activities will take place at multiple locations throughout the republic of the philippines and will consist of three primary xhoentsz -- a bilateral staff exercise, joint interoperability events and combined interoperability events as well as humanitarian and civic assistance efforts. with more than 3800 armed forces members of the philippines and 5100 u.s. service members, this will be the largest iteration of balacatan to date. we look forward to a meaningful productive exercise and we're grateful for that terrific relationship that we have with the armed forces of the philippines. and then last but not least, today the final covid-19