GMA sees improved RP-US ties with Hillary as top diplomat

HONG KONG — President Arroyo yesterday expressed confidence there would be greater improvement in bilateral relations between the United States and the Philippines with the nomination of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as incoming US Secretary of State.

The President echoed this sentiment to former US President Bill Clinton who yesterday presided over the opening plenary session of the two-day Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Asia Meeting here at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wanchai.

US President-elect Barack Obama announced the nomination of Senator Clinton to his Cabinet the other day.

The New York senator is the wife of ex-President Clinton, Mrs. Arroyo’s classmate at Georgetown University in Washington where she pursued her foreign relations degree.

The President took the opportunity to relay her congratulatory message to the incoming US Secretary of State to Mr. Clinton who invited her as one of the five panelists at the CGI Asia Meet with the theme “Balancing Growth, Sustainability and Equity.”

“First of all Bill, let me congratulate you and Sen. Hillary Clinton for being nominated as Secretary of State,” Mrs. Arroyo replied before responding to the first question thrown to her by Mr. Clinton to start the panel discussion.

“I’m very proud of her (Hillary), and as your classmate, I’m looking forward to our working together so that our already strong relations between the US and the Philippines will become stronger,” she stressed.

The former US first lady got the nomination even as she lost the Democratic party presidential nomination to Obama.

Established in 2005 as a non-partisan foundation, the CGI Asia Meeting was organized by the Clinton Foundation headed by the former leader following his two consecutive terms in office at the White House.

The event was the first ever CGI Meeting held outside the US and perhaps the last as Mr. Clinton’s activities would be subject to government restrictions under applicable US federal laws on Cabinet officials and their spouses.

Eleven incumbent and former heads of state are attending the CGI Asia meet. 

Mr. Clinton did not mention how the appointment of his wife to the Obama Cabinet would affect his CGI activities.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, one of Mrs. Arroyo’s co-panelists and host of the CGI Asia Meeting, also congratulated Mr. Clinton for his wife’s nomination.

“I join President Arroyo in congratulating Sen. Hillary Clinton who I will work with closely as a fellow foreign minister,” Yang told the former US president.