Kenney: I loved my time in Phl

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  – All that former United States ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney would say was “I loved my time in the Philippines.”

Kenney was reacting to the controversy over a leaked cable that came out in WikiLeaks.

“Just got back from a short vacation. Thank you to Philippine friends for the many warm messages I received while I was gone. I loved my time in the Philippines. It is a very special place and I will always cherish my Filipino friends :)," said Kenney in her latest Facebook entry on Monday.

The entry was also the only statement Kenney posted on Facebook that somehow referred to the WikiLeaks cable.

Kenney has been quoted to have made disparaging remarks about the late former President Corazon Aquino and her son, now the Chief Executive but who was then still a senator.

Kenney, who is now the US ambassador to Thailand, refused to further discuss the WikiLeaks issue in her Facebook account.

President Aquino earlier said that Kenney's alleged assessment of him and his mother is "far from the truth."

The July 2009 US embassy cable posted online by WikiLeaks quoted Kenney as saying that "Aquino's credibility as a moral crusader was tarnished when she was seen with disgraced former President Joseph Estrada in protest movements against President Arroyo" even if she supported Edsa Dos which ousted Estrada.

Another cable posted by the WikiLeaks quoted Kenney as describing Mr. Aquino - after he announced his bid for the presidency - as "diffident and unassertive" and that "it remains unclear whether Aquino can turn his shy, reserved qualities into strengths."

Warm messages

Kenney received also on Facebook hundreds of messages from Filipinos expressing support for her opinion which she described as "warm messages."

Kenney was able to establish friendships with Filipinos during her stint in the country, and she was able to keep the connection through her Facebook account in which Filipinos constitute a majority of her "friends."

Kenney updates her Facebook account with her activities for the day as well as US embassy projects in Thailand.

Palace: No more comments

Malacañang, meantime, said yesterday it will not issue any official statement with regard to news reports about the leaked diplomatic cables, particularly because the US government has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such confidential information.

But Secretary Ricky Carandang of the Presidential Communications Strategic Planning and Development Office said it would be up to the officials concerned, or even the family of President Aquino, to react if they felt they needed to, in a personal capacity.

"In general, we will refrain from commenting on those WikiLeaks reports. Officially, again, I have to say we are not going to comment on the reports anymore," he told Palace reporters in a briefing.

"I don't know if they feel the need to clarify that. But if the family feels that they would want to clarify that, then, I think, they are free to do so," he added. - With Delon Porcalla