VZCZCXRO0240
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHML #1040 0660808
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070808Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9775
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS MANILA 001040 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/PD, DRL/CDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINS ASEC PREL KPAO RP
SUBJECT: EAP DAS JOHN MEETINGS EXPLORE EMERGENCY RULE, FREE 
PRESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 
 
REF: MANILA 995 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  On March 2, EAP Deputy Assistant 
Secretary Eric John discussed President Arroyo's declaration 
 
SIPDIS 
of a State of Emergency with Ricardo Saludo, Secretary of the 
Cabinet and member of the Presidential Management Staff. 
They also discussed the Arroyo administration's strategy for 
further economic development in the Philippines.  Later that 
day, DAS John discussed the impact of the State of Emergency 
on the Philippine press at a dinner with local media 
personalities.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On March 2, EAP DAS John met in Manila with Cabinet 
Secretary Saludo.  The conversation revolved around President 
 
SIPDIS 
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's declaration of a State of Emergency 
on February 24 in response to an apparent coup plot.  (She 
lifted the State of Emergency on March 3.)  Secretary Saludo 
addressed the media's characterization of the State of 
Emergency as a crackdown on freedom of the press by 
expressing exasperation with what he characterized as the 
Philippine media's sensationalism and loose regard for facts, 
stating that the media was not behaving responsibly in the 
current crisis.  Although the Philippine Constitution allows 
for government control of the media in a State of Emergency, 
the President had not chosen to pursue this option, he noted. 
 Responding to the specific case of a small newspaper that 
had been raided by the police, he further noted that the 
press was subject to the GRP's laws against sedition 
regardless of whether a State of Emergency had been declared. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Saludo also discussed the prospects for continued 
economic improvement in the Philippines.  Once the State of 
Emergency had been lifted, President Arroyo would continue to 
pursue her development agenda, he stressed.  This agenda 
rested on six goals:  increased foreign direct investment; 
improved infrastructure; increased social services; fighting 
corruption; assuring peace and order; and "cooling down" the 
overheated political climate.  Enhanced enforcement of tax 
collection would be necessary to fund this agenda, he added. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Later on March 2, DAS John attended a dinner hosted 
by the Charge for local media personalities, where talk again 
turned to the State of Emergency and its impact on the media. 
 All media representatives present agreed that the State of 
Emergency had had a "chilling effect" on the Philippine 
press, noting that reporters were now being more circumspect 
and some were engaging in self-censorship.  However, when 
pressed, they could not articulate any specific harm 
resulting from government actions.  When asked how media 
practices in the Philippines would be different after the 
State of Emergency was lifted, no one present could point to 
any specific changes they anticipated. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Comment.  In spite of the lifting of the State of 
Emergency on March 3, the Philippine media -- especially the 
Daily Inquirer, a frequent source of anti-Arroyo sentiment -- 
continues to complain about President Arroyo's media 
"crackdown."  That these complaints are on front pages, in 
banner headlines, would seem to contradict their substance. 
We do not anticipate any change in the Philippine media's 
style or substance in the foreseeable future.  End comment. 
 
¶6.  (U) DAS John has cleared this message. 
 
Bellard