MALACAÑANG — President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Wednesday, February 20, expressed elation over a meeting with top officials of the US-Philippines Society.
Present during the courtesy call were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique Manalo, and Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.
On the US-Philippines Society side, present were US-Philippines Society co-chair Manuel Pangilinan, US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, US-Philippines Society President Amb. John Maisto, US-Philippines Executive Director Hank Hendrickson, Murphy and Associates President Amb. Richard Murphy, Philippine Transmarine Carriers Inc. Vice Chairman and CEO Gerardo Borromeo, Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co. Chairman and Managing Partner Carlitos Cruz, Du & Associates Inc. President Lucie Du, US Education Finance Group President and CEO Henry Howard, Starr International Insurance (Asia) Ltd COO Ronald Hudon, Chevron Indo Asia Business Unit Senior Counsel Winnie Lacanilao, Enterprise Solutions Inc. President and Founder Roberto Llames, IBM Executive for Government and Regulatory Affairs Michael DiPaula-Coyle, and Alpha Technologies Vice President for International and Government Relations Paul Shmotolokha.
According to its website, the US-Philippines Society is an independent, non-partisan, bi-national organization that plays an important role in fostering mutual understanding between the United States and the Philippines.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, the society was launched in 2012 with the mission of enhancing and strengthening the Philippine-US relationship while raising awareness of today’s Philippines through programs on business, governance, culture, shared history, education, strategic issues, and conflict resolution.
The US-Philippines Society is celebrating its seventh anniversary this year.
With support from the Starr Foundation, companies, and individual Americans, the US-Philippines Society provided more than $2 million to assist victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
It also raised funds in 2018 to provide health, education, and livelihood assistance to families displaced in Marawi City due to the conflict.
