US envoy invites Aquino to watch baseball on next visit to New York

United States Ambassador to the Philippines, Harry Thomas Jr., said President Benigno Simeon Aquino III may want to watch a baseball game the next time he goes to New York. “As a New Yorker myself, I was pleased to see President Aquino dining on our famous hotdogs, something few heads of state might dare to do. I hope that next time he will make it to a Mets game," he said in a statement posted on the US Embassy website. Thomas was referring to the New York Mets, a professional baseball team based in New York. Aquino, said to be fond of eating hotdogs, caused a stir when he and some members of his entourage ate hotdog sandwiches bought from a cart at a New York City sidewalk last week. Those who were with Aquino at that time were Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, former senator Mar Roxas (Aquino’s electoral running mate), and the group’s security detail, composed of members of the Presidential Security Group and the US Secret Service. Aquino flew to the US on September 20 for his first official foreign visit as chief executive. While in the US, he attended various business conferences, the US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders’ meeting, and the United Nations general assembly where he delivered a speech calling for “global people power." “U.S.-Philippine relations are stronger than ever," Thomas said as Aquino returned from a successful visit to New York and San Francisco. “We are global partners in the effort to achieve the United Nation‟s Millennium Development Goals; we are regional partners in supporting ASEAN‟s integration efforts; we are bilateral partners in advancing good governance, employment generation, improved public health, and security in the Philippines," Thomas added. Eight development goals Thomas said the Philippines and the US are global partners in achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are eight international development goals that all 192 United Nations member states, and at least 23 international organizations, have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. These goals include: (1) Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; (2) Achieving universal primary education; (3) Promoting gender equality and empowering women; (4) Reducing child mortality rate; (5) Improving maternal health; (6) Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; (7) Ensuring environmental sustainability, and (8) Developing a global partnership for development. Open for business “President Aquino's sessions with American companies were equally worthwhile, and I am eager to see how many U.S. firms will decide to take him up on the promise that „the Philippines is open for business," Thomas said. Thomas also noted that many Filipino-Americans were delighted that Aquino recognized the important role they play in the bilateral relationship of the Philippines and the US by taking the time to meet with them. –VVP, GMANews.TV