The US Chargé d’Affaires ad interim (CDA) of the Embassy in Manila visited the Mindanao State University on Thursday to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day at the MSU College of Technology and Oceanography in far Tawi-Tawi, an Island Province in the Southern Philippines.
Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava visited Tawi-Tawi to promote shared US-Philippine values in press freedom, as well as to further strengthen an already robust collaboration with local partners for inclusive peace in the region.
Variava addressed an audience of more than 100 among students and faculty members of the MSU-Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography (MSU TCTO) on World Press Freedom Day event, as she emphasized the significant role of the media in democratic societies.
“It is important for our democracies and for our future that we find ways to make media freedom a reality. We need to protect these freedoms on the digital frontiers and in traditional media,” she said.
During her trip, Variava also engaged with local government officials, met with the Armed Forces of the Philippines Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi Commander Brig. Gen. Romeo Racadio, and toured the American Corner at the MSU-TCTO.
Variava’s discussion with Brig. Gen. Racadio, alongside members of US Special Operations Task Force 511.2, focused on working together to strengthen maritime security posture and address security challenges in the South China Sea and the Sulu Archipelago, a statement from the US Embassy in Manila said.
The statement added that the task Force 511.2 partners with the Western Mindanao Command and has teams embedded directly with Philippine forces throughout the area.
Since 2003, the US government-supported American Corner Tawi-Tawi has been a library and community resource space for the MSU-TCTO community.
Housed on two floors of the MSU library, the American Corner features books and reference materials about American history, culture, and institutions, plus information about studying in the United States.
It also features a mural that is part of the Embassy’s Friends-Partners-Allies Mural Project, incorporating US-Philippine shared values and traditional elements of Tawi-Tawi culture.