The request was made by visiting US Pacific commander-in-chief Admiral Dennis Blair during a recent meeting with Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona.
It has been 16 months that the US has been without an official envoy to the Philippines. US charge d’ affaires Michael Malinowski has been running the US Embassy in Manila after Thomas Hubbard left the post last year.
Ricciardone has served as special representative for transition in Iraq from 1982 to 1985 where he won a meritorious award for his role in normalizing US-Iraq relations. He also served in Ankara and Adana in Turkey from 1979 to 1981. — Pia Lee-Brago