ON June 4, the United States Embassy in the Philippines and Palawan State University (PSU) launched American Corner (AC)-Puerto Princesa, with the virtual signing of a three-year memorandum of understanding between Counselor for Public Affairs Philip Roskamp and PSU President Dr. Ramon Docto.
The partnership provides Palawan with a wide range of US Embassy resources, programs and opportunities through the AC, which will be housed within PSU’s library. AC-Puerto Princesa will offer access to free information resources and dynamic programming on topics, including US culture and society, education, women’s empowerment, civic engagement, innovation, science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics or STEAM, entrepreneurship, and more for the people of Palawan.
“Rest assured that, not only will [PSU] students…benefit from this, but we will share this [with all] Palaweños and Palaweñas,” Dr. Docto said in his remarks.
Part of the yearlong celebration of the 75th anniversary of US-Philippines diplomatic relations, the opening of the learning facility is another milestone in the long-standing friendship of the two countries.
“We hope…the corner is a welcoming, collaborative and safe environment for people from all walks of life [and] from all backgrounds,” said Roskamp. “It will be a modern, technology-driven resource space where you can share ideas, develop skills, and grow capabilities.”
AC-Puerto Princesa joins the largest network of ACs in Southeast Asia, and a network of more than 650 American Spaces worldwide. Today, the US Embassy’s Public Affairs Section maintains 16 American Spaces—including the AC-Manila housed on US Embassy grounds, and 15 ACs across the Philippines, hosted in partner-universities. American Spaces in the Philippines date back to 1945, with the opening of the first US Library in Manila.