LA Filipinos to welcome US envoy to Philippines

US Ambassador to Manila Harry Thomas Jr.

LOS ANGELES—US Ambassador  to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas, Jr. is set to experience a warm Filipino welcome when he visits Los Angeles in May.

The US Pinoys for Good Governance – Los Angeles (USP4GG-LA) will host an intimate reception for  Ambassador Thomas on May 10 at CBS Studios Center in Studio City, California.

The Office of the Ambassador reached out to the LA Filipino community through Loida Nicholas Lewis, organizer and chair of the USP4GG, and through Rocio Nuyda, secretary of the USP4GG Board of Trustees, to have interaction with the LA Filipino-American community.

Thomas is a proponent for issues that are of interest to Filipinos, both abroad and in the Philippines, as the leader of the American Embassy in Manila.

The reception will be held at Carla’s Café – CBS Studios, 4024 Radford Avenue,Studio City, California 91604, starting at 6:30pm. Guest entertainers to perform during the evening will be Pete Avendano, Charmaine Clamor, Mon David and Rick Ickard.

The first African-American Ambassador to the Philippines, Thomas was born in New York City. He was designated by US President Barack Obama on November 19, 2009 to replace Kristie Kenney as Ambassador to the Philippines; and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 19, 2010. He presented his credentials to former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 27, 2010.

Thomas is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service since 1984 and served as Director General of the Foreign Service and Director for Human Resources of the US State Department. Prior to that, he served as a Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department.  As Executive Secretary, he led the State Department Task Force that resulted in the safe evacuation of over 15,000 people from Lebanon in the fall of 2006.

Ambassador Thomas joined the Foreign Service in 1984, and served as US Ambassador to Bangladesh from 2003 to 2005. He also served in the White House as the Director for South Asia at the National Security Council from 2001 to 2002. His other postings include: New Delhi, India; Harare, Zimbabwe; Kaduna, Nigeria; and Lima, Peru.

Ambassador Thomas speaks Spanish, Hindi, and Bangla and is learning Filipino. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and pursued further study at Columbia University.  He holds an honorary doctorate of Philosophy from Loyola University of Maryland and formerly served as member of the Board of Trustees of the College of the Holy Cross and the Board of Governors of the National Defense University. Cynthia De Castro/AJPress