New US envoy arriving Monday

New US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone Jr. is expected to arrive in Manila on Monday, in time for the official kick-off of the joint RP-US military exercise.

The US has been without an envoy to Manila since Thomas Hubbard, formerly chief of mission to the Philippines, was recalled two years ago.

Ricciardone, a career foreign service officer, will present his credentials to President Arroyo at Malacañang a week after his arrival.

The US Embassy has formally notified the Department of Foreign Affairs about the arrival of Ricciardone, who was confirmed by the US Senate last Feb. 4.

In confirming his appointment, the US senators expressed belief that he will be effective in seeking the release of American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, natives of Wichita, Kansas who were captured by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists in late May last year from the posh resort of Dos Palmas in Palawan.

Prior to his appointment to Manila, Ricciardone was US special representative in Iraq.

He was also formerly deputy chief of mission and charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Ankara, Turkey.

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Ricciardone graduated from Dartmouth College in 1973.

He began his diplomatic career in 1978, serving first in Ankara and Adana, Turkey from 1979 to 1981.

Ricciardone speaks Turkish, Italian, French and Arabic. — Pia Lee-Brago