Harry Thomas ends tour of duty

US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—American Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. has ended his tour of more than three years as the United States envoy to the Philippines on Thursday, just a few days after making a farewell call on President Benigno Aquino III.

US Embassy spokesperson Kurt Hoyer said on Friday Thomas’ appointed successor is Philip Goldberg, Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) at the US Department of State, but his appointment has yet to be confirmed by the US Congress.

US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Brian Goldbeck, who arrived in Manila in August last year as Thomas’ deputy chief of mission, will be on top of the mission’s affairs pending the arrival of the new envoy.

Before leaving the Philippines, Thomas received the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Grand Cross, Silver Distinction from President Aquino on Monday.

He was cited for his key role in enhancing the long-standing defense alliance between the Philippines and the United States, in particular the 2011 signing of the Manila Declaration which reaffirmed the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty on its 60th year.

Thomas left Manila just as the two countries continued to nurture this alliance, highlighted of late by negotiations on the increased rotational presence of American troops in the country as part of the United States’ strategic pivot to the Asia Pacific and the Philippines’ external defense buildup.

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier welcomed the appointment of Thomas’ replacement, with Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario saying the career diplomat “will be a very good ambassador.”

Goldberg, 57, was one of eight officials that US President Barack Obama nominated to key administration posts on July 30, along with America’s new envoys to Indonesia, Argentina, Namibia, Trinidad and Tobago, Cameroon and Niger, and a new deputy interior secretary.

Prior to his INR stint, the official, who had served important posts overseas and at his home office, was posted as envoy to Bolivia from 2006 to 2008.

His time in the South American state ended in controversy when he was kicked out by Bolivian President Evo Morales for allegedly meddling in state affairs amid political unrest in his country. Goldberg denied the charges. Morales is known to be an ally of fierce US critic Venezuela.