U.S. State Dept. on Philippines
Excerpt from transcript of Foreign Press Center briefing with Deputy Spokesman, U.S. Department of State Adam Ereli.
Topic: “U.S. foreign policy update”
The Washington Foreign Press Center, Washington D.C.
3:00 p.m. Est,Thursday, April 6, 2006
QUESTION: Thank you. Jennie Ilustre, from Malaya news daily. Last time you were here, we still didn’t have an ambassador for –
MR. ERELI: Ambassador to the Philippines.
QUESTION: So it’s now —
MR. ERELI: I think we do now, though.
QUESTION: Yeah, Kristie Kenney.
MR. ERELI: Yeah, great lady.
QUESTION: Okay. How would the presence of an ambassador help in addressing terrorism and threats to democracy in the Philippines, specifically speeding up a peace agreement, specifically speeding up a peace agreement in Mindanao or southern Philippines, where terrorism is a growing problem and also, the threats to democracy as noted by New York Times yesterday in its editorial.
MR. ERELI: Well, those are — frankly, those are issues that — where the United States can, I think, be of assistance and counsel to the Philippines, but the answers to those questions lie in the hands in the — with the decisions of the Philippine authorities. A peace agreement with Mindanao is — and with the rebels and the insurgents in that area is something that the Philippine authorities are going to have to manage.
Now, where we come in and where an ambassador, obviously, has a critical role, is in helping to bring to bear, I think, the full weight of the U.S. Government in support of number one, counterterror operations, whether that be assistance programs, training programs, programs of cooperation and information-sharing or interdiction of financial flows, et cetera, et cetera.
So the ambassador plays an important role in there — in that respect and obviously, in respect of — representative of the Government of the Philippines and the United States’ views and interaction with United States officials. But the final answer is going to be provided by the Philippine leadership, which we can’t be a substitute for.
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