United States Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas Jr. has extended his apology to department of justice Secretary Leila de Lima for his recent declaration that 40 percent or four out of every 10 foreign male tourists visiting the Philippines come here for 'sex-tourism'.
In a one-page letter to De Lima dated October 11, 2011, Thomas said he regrets issuing the statement without any factual basis during his speech at a recent roundtable discussion on "Combating Human Trafficking in the Philippines" with the Philippine Judicial Academy, Court of Appeals, and the U.S. DOJ Crimina Division.
"I deeply regret that my comments regarding human trafficking and sexual tourism in the Philippines have caused angst and misunderstanding. Clearly it was not my intent to insult Filipinos, a people who I have to come to admire and respect. I should not have said 'that 40 percent of American (?) males come to the Philippines for sexual tourism' without ability to confirm those statistics. I want to assure you that the U.S. Embassy Manila will continue to work with your government to combat this modern day form of slavery... . Working together with honest and dedicated officials, our two governments can end this global scourge... ." Thomas said.
