US Senate confirms new envoy to RP

MANILA, Philippines - The US Senate has confirmed the nomination of African-American career ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. as Washington’s new envoy to the Philippines, the US embassy in Manila announced yesterday.

US embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson said Thomas will arrive in the Philippines “sometime in the coming weeks.”

The embassy said the US Senate’s confirmation last Friday of Thomas’ nomination is a necessary step under the US Constitution in the ambassadorial nomination process.

Thomas, of New York, is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and served most recently as director general of the Foreign Service and director of Human Resources.

He previously served as a special assistant to the secretary and executive secretary of the department.

He joined the Foreign Service in 1984 and served as US ambassador to Bangladesh from 2003 to 2005. He also served in the White House as the director for South Asia at the National Security Council from 2001 to 2002.

His other postings include New Delhi, India; Harare, Zimbabwe; Kaduna, Nigeria; and Lima, Peru.

Ambassador Thomas speaks Spanish, Hindi, Bangla and is learning Tagalog.

Thomas is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and pursued further studies at Columbia University in New York.

In February, during his Senate confirmation hearings, Thomas called for peaceful elections in the Philippines and vowed to press for more progress in eliminating extrajudicial killings and corruption concerns in the country.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the government welcomes constructive engagement with the United States in upholding and protecting human rights.

The DFA looks forward to working closely with Thomas to further strengthen the friendly and robust relations between the US and the Philippines.