US ass’t secretary of state in RP for 3-day visit

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill is in the country for a three-day visit as part of a regional tour of Southeast Asian countries.

Press Attache Matthew Lussenhop said Hill is scheduled to meet President Arroyo, senior government officials and business leaders to discuss economic, political and security issues and affirm US-Philippines bilateral ties. Mrs. Arroyo was discharged from the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City yesterday morning for influenza.

Lussenhop said Hill came from the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. This is Hill’s third visit to the Philippines.

Hill is scheduled to speak before some 1,000 cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in Baguio City this morning. He will deliver a speech on the Philippine Defense Reform Program and the Philippines’ role in ensuring stability and security in Southeast Asia.

Hill will be joined by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney and PMA superintendent Brig. Gen. Leopoldo Maligalig in donating books, computers and information resources to the PMA library.

He will also speak before De La Salle University students about US-Philippines relations and US policies in Asia tomorrow.

Hill has held the position of US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs since April 2005. As Assistant Secretary of State, he directs US foreign policy on countries in East Asia and heads the US delegation to the Six Party Talks on the North Korean nuclear weapons issue. 

While on a fellowship with the American Political Science Association, Hill served as a staff member for Congressman Stephen Solarz working on Eastern European issues. He also served as the Department of State’s senior country officer for Poland.

Hill received the State Department’s Distinguished Service Award for his contributions as a member of the US negotiating team in the Bosnia peace settlement, and was a recipient of the Robert S. Frasure Award for Peace Negotiations for his work on the Kosovo crisis. 

Prior to joining the foreign service, Hill served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon.

Hill graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received a Master’s degree from the Naval War College in 1994. He speaks Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, and Albanian. Hill has a wife and three kids. — Pia Lee-Brago