Earlier this month, Philippine Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Jose Lampe Cuisia, Jr. gave a talk at the University of Washington titled ""The U.S., ASEAN and China: A Perspective from the Philippine Ambassador to Washington, DC.” Hosted by the Southeast Asia Center at the Jackson School of International Studies, the talk was open to faculty, students, and alumni.
During this event, Department of Economics Senior Academic Advisor Patrick Pineda had the opportunity to meet Ambassador Cuisia, who is considered a key diplomat on issues critical to both the Republic of the Philippines and to the United States.
Patrick, who is Filipino American, is involved with leadership development with the Filipino American Student Association at the UW and an active member of the Filipino Community of Seattle, through which he was invited to participate in hosting Ambassador Cuisia.
Ambassador Cuisia was the seventh Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines, serving from 1990 to 1993, and has been the Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to the United States of America since 2011. He is a well-respected figure in Philippine business, with more than three decades in financial services, serving as Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines and Chairman of its Monetary Board as well as President and CEO of the Philippine Social Security System in the 1980s and 1990s.
Patrick was involved in welcoming Ambassador Cuisia to the University of Washington, and was asked to help provide transport for he and Consul Reginald Bernabe and to help get the word out about the Ambassador’s visit to Filipino student leaders and the campus community. Patrick has been an Economics advisor since 2010, teaches a Filipino cultural and traditional performance arts group on campus, and involves himself in a number of Asian Pacific Islander professional development organizations on campus.
“A foreign dignitary visiting the UW in general is unique. The topics of his talk ranging from economic, environmental, and political relations between ASEAN member nations and the Philippines were quite interesting and created a great dialogue for the faculty, staff, and students present at the event,” Patrick said. “I was happy to be involved and it was an honor for me to meet Ambassador Cuisia and talk about my roles at the UW, with the Department of Economics, and my involvement with the Filipino and Filipino American Community.”
- To learn more about the UW Filipino Student Association, visit: http://students.washington.edu/fasa/
- To learn more about Ambassador Cuisia, visit http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/philippines-dc/embassy-dc/the-ambassador-dc/ambassadors-bio-dc/.