New US ambassador to RP may be a woman

The United States is considering appointing a woman as its next ambassador to the Philippines, a diplomatic source said yesterday.

The source said US Ambassador to Ecuador Kristie Anne Kenney is being eyed by Washington to replace its former envoy to Manila Francis Ricciardone, who was recalled last May.

If Kenney is appointed to the post, she would be the first woman US ambassador to Manila.

"Still a rumor, but it’s likely," the source said.

Kenney is reportedly Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s personal choice to take up the post vacated by Ricciardone.

The source added that Ricciardone and his predecessor Ambassador Thomas Hubbard speak highly of Kenney who had a strong record after serving as executive secretary of the State Department for three years.

Kenney is also the first woman to hold the key position in the State Department, according to her biography posted on the State Department website.

Asked to comment on Washington’s likely choice as its next envoy to Manila, acting US Embassy spokeswoman Ruth Urry did not confirm the information about Ricciardone’s successor in the post he vacated here.

"At this point, we don’t have an official announcement from the White House. There’s an official process. The White House chooses carefully because it wants to send the best person for the job," Urry said.

Washington was reported to have nominated US Ambassador to South Africa Cameron Hume to replace Ricciardone. But Washington did not submit Hume’s nomination to the Senate.

"The US and the Philippines have a strong relationship. President Bush will nominate as his representative in Manila the person who can best carry forward this relationship. But I don’t want to get focused on the name of Ambassador Kenney because there is no formal nomination yet from the White House," Urry added.

As former executive secretary of the State Department, Kenney headed a staff of 185 persons responsible for inter-agency policy coordination and crisis management working directly for former state secretaries Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright.

She also led the transition team from the Clinton to Bush administrations.

She was also named senior adviser to the assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement in 2001 before her appointment to Ecuador in 2002.

Kenney, a native of Washington DC, was a page for the US Senate, a tour guide in the US Capitol and an intern in the House of Representatives. She speaks Spanish and French.

She received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award, the Arnold Memorial Award for leadership motivation and mentoring and several superior honor awards.