US Ambassador pays visit to Noynoy in Quezon City

(Updated 7:54 PM) US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. and other US diplomats on Friday paid a courtesy call to president-apparent Sen. Benigno Aquino III, discussing possible increased cooperation between the two countries. Even though Aquino has yet to be proclaimed president, Thomas paid a visit to offer his congratulations, the US Ambassador said. "Sinabi ko sa kanya maligayang bati," Thomas said, his clear Filipino drawing amused laughter from reporters. "We congratulate the Filipino people on this election process," Thomas added. "There were some bumps and bruises but that is to be expected, we have that in the United States. But the will of the people has been respected." However, US President Barack Obama himself did not have a specific message for Aquino yet, Thomas said. "We have to respect the Filipino process. Remember we have to wait and see what the Filipino Senate and Congress say," said Thomas. The US hopes to work closely with the Philippines on whatever issues are prioritized by the incoming administration, he added. "It is up to them how they will like to talk with the US. We are guests in your country," Thomas said. For his part, Aquino said that many varied issues were discussed, including the construction of the US embassy and a short briefing on terrorism. "Nagbigay ng update tayo sa current state of relations. Maraming diniscuss pero yun, first time kami nagkausap. So yung lahat na detalye pag tayo nahulma na ang ating Cabinet, naharap ang kanilang counterpart at tayo...ma-proclaim ng Kongreso doon siguro magkaroon ng formal na usapan," Aquino said, adding that the controversial Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was not taken up in the meeting. (We gave an update of the current state of relations. We discussed a lot but it was the first time we got to talk to each other. When we've finalized our Cabinet, faced our counterparts...and I'm proclaimed in Congress, that's when we'll have formal talks.) The meeting, which took nearly one and a half hours, was attended by about five other US diplomats and Aquino’s runningmate Senator Mar Roxas. Many other heads of state have signified their intention to talk to Aquino, Roxas said, but refused to give further details. Mango was served for the diplomats who arrived shortly before 2pm, Roxas said. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV