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PNoy confers highest diplomatic honor on Obama


President Benigno Aquino III on Monday night conferred the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Raja — the highest Philippine diplomatic honor — to US President Barack Obama, who is in Manila for a two-day state visit.

During his toast at the state dinner held in Obama's honor, Aquino said he conferred the rank to the visiting US leader for his “leadership and policies that assisted the Philippines in times of natural disaster, for helping uphold stability and peace by means of the rule of law in Southeast Asia, and for working with us to fundamentally raise the defense capacity of our country.”

Aquino said the Order of Sikatuna, the highest recognition of diplomatic merit in the Philippines since 1953, is conferred on “those who have fostered, and elevated, the bilateral partnership of our country with other nations.”

The first US president to receive the distinction was Dwight Eisenhower in 1960.

"Then, as now, may this conferment symbolize our nation’s esteem to the American people; and may it serve as a reminder of the mutual desire to always be partners based on the highest principles of liberty, democracy, and progress," Aquino said.

In his toast, Obama said he was "deeply honored" to receive the Order of Sikatuna.

"I accept it in the spirit in which it has been bestowed with the commitment to continue and to deepen the bonds between our two great nations," he said. —KBK, GMA News

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