VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHML #2982/01 2470645
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 040645Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTTE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8101
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATIONOF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 002982 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER RP
SUBJECT: BREAFAST WITH SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
ABERTO ROMULO 
 
 
MANILA 00002982  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEAS PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  At a pivate breakfast on September 3, 
Secretary of Forign Affairs Romulo told me that the 
 
SIPDIS 
Philippines hares our concerns over the situation in Burma. 
Te Philippine government is concerned about the recnt 
crackdown, feels the Burmese potential "new cnstitution" is 
a sham, and does not believe thatBurma is moving in a 
positive direction in termsof allowing a legitimate 
opposition.  On the DPRK Romulo praised continuing progress 
in the Six-Prty talks.  On U.S.- Philippine issues, Romuo 
praised U.S. development assistance in Mindanao, saying the 
USG is making a tangible difference in people's lives.  He is 
pushing Philippine negotiators to accelerate progress in 
peace talks with Muslim insurgent groups, saying that the 
combination of "soft" and "hard" power used by the Philippine 
Government is proving effective.  When he sees Secretary Rice 
in Sydney at the APEC meeting, he will convey hopes that she 
will visit the Philippines later this year and travel to 
Mindanao to see the progress being made against terrorism 
with the strong support of the United States.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto 
Romulo came to my residence for a relaxed private breakfast 
on September 3, a day prior to his departure for the APEC 
meetings in Sydney, Australia.  Romulo had just returned from 
joining Philippine President Arroyo at events marking the 
50th Independence of Malaysia where he said the Philippine 
President thanked her Malaysian counterpart for their 
continuing role as facilitator for peace talks between the 
Government of the Philippines and the Muslim insurgent group, 
the Moro Independent Liberation Front (MILF).  The week 
before, Romulo had been in Brazil for meetings between Asian 
and Latin American countries.  He said he felt that the two 
regions had drifted apart in recent years, despite strong 
Spanish heritage in the Philippines.  He was surprised at the 
vehement comments of the Venezuelan Foreign Minister against 
the United States and said that the strong and "rude" public 
commentary was surprising to the Asian attendees. 
 
BURMA 
----- 
 
¶3. (SBU) We talked about Burma's recent crackdown on 
pro-democracy activists and Burma's National Convention to 
develop a new constitution.  Romulo characterized the new 
constitution effort as a "total sham" noting that it offered 
no voice and no role for opposition.  Romulo said he could 
not imagine any of our nations voicing support for anything 
short of meaningful progress toward democracy.  He noted 
recent statements by Mrs. Bush as well as ASEAN's continuing 
efforts to try and promote democracy in Burma, saying he felt 
that the Burmese regime simply ignored all our efforts.  I 
pointed out the importance of international efforts to 
pressure the regime and said we must all resist any efforts 
to imply that such meaningless steps as the "new" 
constitution represented genuine progress.  Romulo said he 
would look forward to talking about developments in Burma 
with Secretary Rice on the margins of the upcoming APEC 
meetings in Sydney. 
 
SECRETARY RICE - ROMULO MEETING IN SYDNEY 
 
SIPDIS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In addition to talking to the Secretary about 
Burma, Romulo said he would hope to hear the Secretary's 
thoughts on next steps in the Six-Party talks with North 
Korea.  He applauded the progress made thus far and praised 
U.S. leadership of this important process.  He told me he'd 
hope to update the Secretary on the progress the Philippines 
was making toward bringing peace to Mindanao in the southern 
Philippines.  He highlighted the combination of "soft" and 
"hard" power blending development with the tough fight being 
waged by the Armed Forces of the Philippines against 
terrorists as an emerging success story.  He said that U.S. 
development assistance was directly helping bring the 
benefits of peace to "real people," turning away support for 
terrorists and building a foundation for prosperity.  He said 
he hoped that Secretary Rice would be able to visit the 
Philippines before the end of this year to see personally the 
impact of U.S. assistance in Mindanao in fighting terrorism 
as well as how genuinely fond of Americans Filipinos 
throughout the country are.  I said that I knew the Secretary 
would like to visit but highlighted the many competing 
demands for her time.  Romulo said he would also hope to 
share with the Secretary his thoughts on the growing economic 
successes, to include a recent USD $1 billion investment by 
U.S. firm Texas Instruments, and discuss the Philippines' 
desire to be a Millenium Challenge Compact country. 
 
ARREST OF TERRORIST GROUP LEADER, JOSE MARIA SISON 
 
MANILA 00002982  002 OF 002 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Romulo was elated by the recent arrest by Dutch 
authorities of Jose Maria Sison, the longtime self-exiled 
leader of the Communist New People's Army, a group on the 
U.S. list of Foreign Terrorist organizations.  He said he and 
Cabinet colleagues had been working with the Dutch for 
several years to make sure the case they built was good. 
They were delighted to finally have Sison behind bars. 
Romulo said that given the U.S. interest in prosecuting 
terrorists, he hoped we'd be prepared to assist the Dutch 
with the case, if the Dutch so requested. 
 
TRAVEL BY SENIOR PHILIPPINE OFFICIALS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Romulo told me it was unlikely that Philippine 
President Arroyo would travel to New York for the UNGA in 
September.  He said he would attend the UNGA, stopping first 
in Washington on September 24.  While in Washington, he'd 
hope to see members of the U.S. Congress.  Recognizing that 
he would have just seen Secretary Rice in Sydney, Romulo said 
he'd like to call on Deputy Secretary Negroponte, if 
schedules permitted. 
KENNEY