President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo conferred today the Order of Sikatuna, Rank of Datu with Gold Distinction, on Kristie Ann Kenney, outgoing US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Philippines.

The American lady diplomat merited the honor for her outstanding contribution to advance bilateral relations between the Philippines and the United States.

“I wish you all the best,” the President said after the ceremony, held this morning at Malacanang’s Music Room.

“It is such a great honor,” Kenny responded. “I appreciate your leadership, openness and support to me.”

The order is conferred on diplomats, officials, and nationals of foreign states who have rendered services in fostering, developing and strengthening relations between their country and the Philippines.

In Kenny’s case, the citation says she has done so much to educate the young people of the country, protect the environment, advance the interest of Filipino veterans, improve defense and security cooperation between the two countries, and foster peace and development in Mindanao.

The citation also notes her leadership in facilitating immediate assistance to the Philippines in times of calamity.

Kenney, the first woman US Ambassador to the Philippines, said the award was also for her two thousand colleagues at the US Embassy in Manila, both American and Filipino.

“I’m their face but they do the great work,” she said.

“It has been an extraordinary honor to represent my country in the Philippines, one of our oldest allies. I have felt very much at home in the Philippines, perhaps because our two countries have so much shared history. Our fathers and grandfathers shed blood together in World War II to protect our freedom. Millions of Filipinos live and work in the United States, and many Americans call the Philippines home. We are so much more than friends,” Kenney said in her farewell statement.

She asked Filipinos to extend the same hospitality to her successor Harry K. Thomas, who President Barack Obama has nominated as the first Afro-American US envoy to Manila.

According to Kenney, Thomas is an experienced diplomat, who happens to be her close personal friend.

”He will be a wonderful United States Ambassador to the Philippines, and I know Filipinos will give him a warm welcome," Kenney said.

Kenney will leave Monday for Washington, D.C., to look after her ailing 86-year old mother.