New US envoy ‘excited’ to come to PH

Secretary of State John Kerry applauds after swearing in Sung Kim, left, as U.S. Ambassador to Philippines, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, at the State Department in Washington. AP Photo

While the relationship between the Philippines and the United States has taken a turn for the worse, America’s designated ambassador to Manila is “excited” to come and work towards maintaining strong ties between the two longtime allies.

The United States’ Ambassador-designate to the Philippines Sung Kim is set to arrive within the month or in early December to start his tour of duty in Manila, coming at a time of a pivotal shift in Philippine policy towards its former colonizer.

“Ambassador-designate Kim is extremely excited to be coming here.  And of course, needless to say, we’ve been working with him, sending him information, advising him who to meet with,” US Chargé d’Affaires Michael Klecheski told reporters on Wednesday, as the Embassy hosted an election watch party.

“I mean this is something that is done with every ambassador throughout the world. And he’s really excited, very much excited to be here,” he said.

He said Kim’s arrival date has yet to be fixed, “but it will be quite soon.”

Kim, an American-Korean career foreign service officer, will come to the Philippines in place of former envoy Philip Goldberg, whose last few months in Manila was marked by President Duterte’s tirades against him and US President Barack Obama.

In brash language laced with expletives, Mr. Duterte has expressed hurt for criticism that Obama and other US officials have issued against his war on drugs. He has also showed displeasure at what he describes to be America’s low regard for the Philippines, vowing to deviate the country’s foreign policy direction away from its traditionally close partnership with the United States.

Asked if he expects a tough time for Kim to adjust given Mr. Duterte’s acerbic stance towards the United States, Klecheski did not give a direct response but said: “Our new ambassador-designate, he’s very excited and he’s really looking forward to strong relations.”

He said it was not deliberate that Kim, an American-Korean career foreign service officer, was chosen to handle the Philippine posting.

“That decision was made quite a few months ago. It really is not a deliberate decision,” Klecheski said.

He said the same of whoever becomes the new American president.

“All I can say is… from our perspective, a good relationship with the Philippines is something that is absolutely of prime importance to us, and that’s a priority,” Klecheski said.

“And I think I can say with confidence that whoever our president will be will obviously consider that of great importance for all the reasons that I said earlier,” the diplomat said in an interview just as the world awaited US election results.