WASHINGTON – New US ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. said he was excited to work with the incoming administration of president-apparent Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on key issues important to both countries such as defense, security, human rights and business opportunities.
“And if I can get to meet Manny Pacquiao, I’ll really impress my family,” Thomas said in an interview with Ernie Bower, Southeast Asia Program Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based, non-partisan think tank.
He said the United States was also interested in working in partnership with the Philippines in ending terrorism, eliminating trafficking in women and children, improving people-to-people relations and strengthening the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In the interview posted on the CSIS website on Monday, Thomas congratulated the Filipino people on the success of the recent general elections which he said reaffirmed their commitment to democracy.
In reply to a query, he said increased Chinese influence in the Philippines was an opportunity, not a problem, for the United States.
“We want to work with China on many things, especially in the business realm and we want to make sure China knows the Asia-Pacific region is important to us,“ he said.
Thomas said China’s intentions must be transparent and the ownership issue of disputed territories in the South China Sea must be settled with ASEAN as a group and not just with one or two countries.
He said President Barack Obama was interested in renewable energy and since the Philippines was a leader in the use of renewable energy “that’s an area that I think the president wants to talk to Filipinos about.”
Ever since the early 1970s when then President Ferdinand Marcos created a major government program to find, develop and generate electricity from hot rocks deep in the ground, the Philippines has become the world’s largest consumer of electricity from geothermal sources.
Thomas said the United States was very pleased the Philippines had taken the lead in pressing Myanmar’s military rulers to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and restore freedom and democracy to the Burmese people.
Bower sat down with Thomas at CSIS to talk about RP-US relations on May 14.