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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 000141 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/16/2017 
TAGS: MARR MAS MCAP PREL RP
SUBJECT: RECORD YEAR FOR U.S. NAVY SHIP VISITS UNDERSCORES 
U.S. COMMITMENT 
 
REF: A. 07 MANILA 03964 
     ¶B. 07 MANILA 02591 
     ¶C. 07 MANILA 00630 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The year 2007 brought a dramatic rise in U.S. 
Navy ship visits to the Philippines, as 81 U.S. Navy vessels 
visited 9 ports throughout the Philippines -- the most since 
the closure of U.S. military bases in 1992 -- and underscored 
our strong bilateral relationship, making the Philippines one 
of the leading destinations for U.S. Navy ports of call in 
the region.  A far cry from traditional former "liberty" 
ports of call, U.S. Navy ship visits to the Philippines 
evolved into a highly effective public diplomacy tool in 
¶2007.  Playing an increasingly visible role in the continuing 
USG commitment to the Philippines and coordinated closely 
with the Mission, such visits allow U.S. Navy personnel to 
engage with Philippine political and military leadership at 
the local and national level and have proven valuable in 
promoting the Mission's agenda to use community relations and 
humanitarian projects to build goodwill and future access, as 
well as to provide traditional military training.  In 
addition to their training and humanitarian value, ship 
visits have an important direct economic impact, putting an 
estimated USD 8 million into the Philippine economy in 2007, 
much of it in impoverished and under-served areas.  Recent 
ship visits have gained such prominence that during the 
Ambassador's December 17 meeting with Foreign Secretary 
Alberto Romulo, he mentioned he looked forward to the return 
visit of the USNS Mercy in 2008 and asked if a U.S. aircraft 
carrier could visit the Philippines soon, as he would "love a 
chance to get on board"  (ref A).  Such enthusiasm on the 
part of Philippine officials for U.S. Navy presence stands in 
contrast to skepticism among a small group of elites and 
leftists who are suspicious of U.S. intentions in the 
Philippines and of U.S. military personnel's respect for 
Philippine law.  Because of their temporary, short-term 
nature and the many benefits they bring, continued, frequent 
U.S. Navy ship visits to the Philippines help counter that 
criticism, and the Mission remains very committed to 
supporting them in the future.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
COMMUNITY RELATIONS TAKES A FRONT SEAT DURING VISITS 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2. (C) The 81 U.S. Navy ships that made visits to 9 ports 
throughout the Philippines in 2007 are the most since the 
Subic Bay Naval Base closure in 1992 and highlight U.S. 
progress in rebuilding our political and defense relationship 
with the Philippines.  Port visits spanned the entire range 
of the Philippine Archipelago, from Subic Bay north of Manila 
to Cebu, Legazpi City, and Dumaguete in central Philippines, 
and Zamboanga, and General Santos City in southern Mindanao. 
In addition to the traditional military training such as ship 
boarding techniques and amphibious landings conducted with 
their Philippine counterparts, U.S. Navy personnel undertook 
numerous community relations activities.  Working with 
Philippine officials to identify neglected areas, sailors and 
Marines renovated schools, conducted medical projects, and 
donated needed supplies to local residents.  As a result of 
these efforts, the Philippines ranks first in southeast Asia 
in the number of humanitarian and infrastructure projects 
conducted by the U.S. Navy and Marines during ship visits. 
We strongly believe that these relatively inexpensive 
activities are critical to ensuring future access to these 
ports and deflecting leftist and elitist critiques of U.S.- 
Philippine military engagement.  Apart from the value of 
military training and humanitarian programs, the ships pumped 
an estimated USD 8 million this year into the local economies 
while in port. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
SHOWCASING U.S. MILITARY PROFESSIONALISM 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Several of the ship visits were conducted in support 
of three successful and well-received major training 
exercises with the Philippine military: Cooperation Afloat 
Readiness and Training 2007, Balikatan 2007, and Philippine 
Bilateral Exercise 2007.  Just as these exercises and the 
accompanying ship visits helped the U.S. Navy sustain its 
 
MANILA 00000141  002 OF 003 
 
 
long-time role in training the Philippine military forces in 
surface, air, and amphibious operations, the less- 
traditional humanitarian assistance missions conducted by 
thousands of sailors and Marines provided an effective 
platform to showcase U.S. military professionalism to 
Philippine officials.  Working with U.S. Navy personnel to 
maximize the impact of the visits, the Ambassador and DCM 
have accompanied senior Philippine officials such as 
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Philippine Secretary 
of National Defense, and Filipino Congressmen on board the 
vessels, allowing Philippine officials a chance to experience 
the Navy's hospitality and to have first-hand contact with 
sailors, Marines, and officers. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
SUPPORTING MISSION EFFORTS IN MINDANAO 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) U.S. engagement with the Philippines in strife-torn 
Mindanao benefited from two ports of call, in particular.  In 
February 2007, the USS Blue Ridge became the first U.S. Navy 
vessel to pay a port call to the southern Mindanao city of 
General Santos in 15 years.  Linking up with local civic 
groups and the Philippine military, the crew conducted 
community relations activities in the immediate vicinity, 
renovating two schools and completing construction of a 
third.  At each location, the Ambassador and U.S. Seventh 
Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Crowder presented educational 
and recreational equipment to local charities.  USS Blue 
Ridge personnel, along with USAID and JSOTF-P personnel, 
conducted a medical civil action program that provided free 
treatment to over 600 patients.  The Ambassador and 
Vice-Admiral Crowder co-hosted a reception aboard the USS 
Blue Ridge that was well attended by a diverse group of local 
officials, including the Governor of Sulu, who traveled from 
Jolo Island to plead his case for a similar ship visit to his 
province, an area that has been a stronghold for Muslim 
terrorists from the Abu Sayyaf Group.  Other local and 
provincial leaders emphasized that sustained U.S involvement 
in the social and economic improvement of Mindanao has led to 
increased peace and stability in the region (ref C). 
 
¶5.  (C) A second Mindanao visit in July 2007 by the USS 
Peleliu off the coast of Cotabato, a location not normally 
visited by U.S. Navy vessels, also garnered tremendous 
positive publicity for U.S. involvement.  The USS Peleliu, 
part of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Partnership for Peace 
initiative, built on the success of the 2006 USNS Mercy 
visit.  During the visit, the Ambassador and USS Peleliu 
commander hosted a reception aboard the vessel and local 
officials (largely Muslim) and their spouses were flown by 
helicopters to the USS Peleliu's offshore anchorage.  Initial 
nervousness quickly gave way to wide smiles as the passengers 
enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime, low-level flight that helped 
forge a closer bond between the U.S. military and their 
civilian Philippine counterparts (ref B) -- a bond that 
continues to pay dividends for Joint Special Operations Task 
Force-Philippines and USAID personnel working in the area. 
Ship visits to Mindanao with strong humanitarian and 
community relations components powerfully underscore U.S. 
support for peace and prosperity in that conflict and 
terrorist ridden region. 
 
------------------------------------ 
ENHANCING OUR BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) Other standout visits in 2007 included the USS 
Connecticut to Subic Bay in October, the first U.S. Navy 
nuclear submarine to visit the Philippines in seven years, 
and the USS Reuben James to Dumaguete in the central 
Philippines in November, the first U.S. Navy vessel to make a 
port of call there since 1995.  To capitalize on the 
opportunity to invite Philippine government officials aboard 
a U.S. nuclear vessel, the Ambassador hosted a lunch aboard 
the submarine with Undersecretary of Defense Antonio Santos 
and Undersecretary Edilberto Adan, head of the Commission on 
Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).  As the VFA has been a 
contentious issue with some Philippine elites, Adan's 
interaction with U.S. Navy officers and crew was invaluable 
in reinforcing our message that our military holds itself to 
the highest standards of professional conduct.  The local 
impact of the ship visits was seen clearly during the USS 
 
MANILA 00000141  003 OF 003 
 
 
Reuben James visit to Dumaguete.  While the commander of the 
USS Reuben James hosted a reception for local leaders that 
was widely covered in the local press, the crew was feted by 
residents during an ongoing local holiday celebration with a 
luncheon in their honor and invitations to participate in 
festival activities. 
 
------------------ 
LEADING BY EXAMPLE 
------------------ 
 
¶7. (C) The medical mission of the USNS Mercy in the southern 
Philippines from May to June 2006 was a watershed event, 
reaching some of the poorest and most under-served areas of 
the country, and attracting front page news across the 
country.  The outstanding medical care and humanitarian 
assistance provided during the visit directly served some 
50,000 local patients in Zamboanga, Jolo, and Tawi-Tawi, and 
was a huge boon to efforts by JSOTF-P, USAID, and other U.S. 
agencies to encourage the Philippine military to adopt 
civil-military relations in the Mindanao region as an 
effective deterrent to terrorist recruitment.  Since the 
success of the USNS Mercy visit, the Philippine military and 
JSOTF-P have continued their civil-military efforts, 
conducting 97 medical assistance projects serving more than 
44,000 people in the Mindanao region in 2007.  Taking a page 
from their U.S. counterparts, the Philippine Armed Forces 
established the National Development Support Command in 
October 2007 to conduct civil-military operations throughout 
the country (septel).  The Mission looks forward to the 
return of the USNS Mercy to the Philippines in 2008, and 
Foreign Secretary Romulo recently expressed his desire for 
USNS Mercy's return visit to the Ambassador (ref A). 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) As evidenced by the many productive ship visits to the 
Philippines in 2007, the U.S. Navy has demonstrated a 
creative and innovative approach towards engagement with the 
Philippine government.  A far cry from traditional "liberty" 
ports of call of the past, in 2007 Navy ship visits to the 
Philippines evolved into a highly effective public diplomacy 
tool, playing a key role in promoting our bilateral 
relationship and complementing the Philippine and U.S. 
efforts to use soft and hard power to bolster the Philippine 
fight against terrorism.  Analysis of recent opinion polling 
and public commentary makes clear the Philippine public is 
strongly supportive of the current security relationship with 
the United States, especially joint military exercises and 
port visits.  At the same time, small but influential 
minorities remain deeply suspicious that the United States 
intends to reestablish permanent bases in the Philippines, a 
step that these groups oppose vigorously.  There also is 
skepticism among the general public that U.S. service 
personnel respect the laws and customs of the Philippines, a 
persistent holdover from an earlier era.  For precisely these 
reasons, the Mission believes that continued, frequent U.S. 
Navy visits to the Philippines are valuable -- their 
temporary, short-term nature and the many positive benefits 
that the communities near the ports of call enjoy provide a 
strong counter-argument to the skeptics.  The community 
relations events conducted by the U.S. Navy and Marines, 
coupled with exemplary behavior by the crews in the last 
year, made the 2007 ship visits a resounding success.  As a 
result of the significant positive feedback in 2007, the U.S. 
Navy is considering a further increase in the number of 
Philippine port visits this year, which the Mission fully 
supports.  END COMMENT. 
KENNEY