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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001814 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017 
TAGS: PREL ECON MCAP PTER AS NZ RP
SUBJECT: ARROYO'S DOWN UNDER DIPLOMACY 
 
 
Classified By: POL/C Scott Bellard, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  President Arroyo presided over the 
signing of a number of bilateral security and economic 
agreements during her recent visits to Australia and New 
Zealand, most significantly a landmark Status of Forces 
Agreement (SOFA) with Australia, which nonetheless will 
likely face a difficult passage through the Philippine 
Senate.  Australia also announced plans to donate 
shallow-draft patrol boats to the Philippine military and to 
provide human rights-related assistance.  The President's 
trip to New Zealand included attendance at the Regional 
Interfaith Dialogue, the signing of a law enforcement 
cooperation agreement (with plans to coordinate with our 
police advisor), assistance on human rights, and various 
economic commitments from the New Zealand business community. 
 Hecklers criticizing the Philippines on unlawful killings 
hounded President Arroyo in both countries.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
Landmark Military Accord 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) The cornerstone of President Arroyo's official visit 
to Australia May 30-31 was the signing of the 
Philippine-Australia Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which 
would cover Australian military counterterrorism exercises 
and training projects in the Philippines.  The SOFA awaits 
ratification by the Australian Parliament and the Philippine 
Senate.  Under negotiations for about two years, the SOFA 
will enable Australia to engage in significantly more 
military-to-military training and exercises and 
counterterrorism assistance, along the lines of what the U.S. 
is able to do under our Visiting Forces Agreement, although 
Philippine officials were quick publicly to dismiss 
comparisons between the two agreements.  Australian diplomats 
in Manila confirmed that the SOFA will enable Philippine 
authorities to gain custody over Australian soldiers accused 
of crimes outside their official duties (as long as the 
alleged offense would also be a crime in Australia) and that 
detention and any eventual imprisonment would be on 
Philippine soil, unlike the terms of the VFA.  There are 
reciprocal provisions for Philippine troops who commit crimes 
in Australia. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) During the visit, Australia announced that it will 
provide the Philippine military with about 30 shallow-draft 
patrol boats (the exact quantity and model to be determined) 
capable of operating in the marshlands of Mindanao. 
According to Australian diplomats, tenders are already under 
consideration, with an expectation that the first boats will 
arrive by the end of 2007.  The two sides emphasized their 
counterterrorism partnership, especially in Mindanao and 
against transnational terrorism, but underscored that there 
would be no Australia bases in the Philippines, nor would 
Australian troops undertake combat operations. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Australian officials in Canberra expressed concern 
with unlawful killings in the Philippines, according to 
contacts here, but also announced that the Australian 
Government will provide AUS $250,000 for funding human rights 
projects in the Philippines.  The two governments agreed to 
work collaboratively to identify further assistance to 
Philippine institutions dealing with human rights. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Australian business representatives in Manila 
noted some disappointment over a lack of commercial interest 
during Arroyo's visit, including at an ANZ Bank-sponsored 
Asia Society speech by Arroyo in Melbourne. 
 
---------------------- 
New Zealand Highlights 
---------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In New Zealand May 28-30, President Arroyo attended 
the opening of the Asia-Pacific Regional Interfaith Dialogue, 
the "prime reason" for the visit, according to New Zealand 
diplomats in Manila.  The interfaith dialogue was a follow-on 
to an inter-faith dialogue that Prime Minister Helen Clark 
had attended in Cebu, which traced its origins to the 
aftermath of the Bali bombing. 
 
¶7.  (C) Arroyo also encountered some tough talk in Wellington 
about the need to take action against unlawful killings, but 
Prime Minister Clark agreed to provide as yet unspecified 
assistance to the Philippine Commission on Human Rights.  A 
team will visit Manila in the coming months to shape out a 
program, which likely will consist of training rather than 
hardware, according to the New Zealand Embassy.  New Zealand 
 
MANILA 00001814  002 OF 002 
 
 
also plans to enhance training for the Philippine National 
Police (PNP) via a new law enforcement cooperation agreement. 
 Diplomats here said that the plan is to coordinate with the 
U.S. Senior Law Enforcement Advisor and our ongoing 
assistance to the PNP Transformation Plan.  Top priorities 
likely will include community policing and rights-based 
training for the PNP. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  New Zealand diplomats expressed satisfaction with 
new investment commitments related to mining and agriculture 
(especially export of Philippine fruits), but did not yet 
have many details. 
 
------------------- 
Not Without Protest 
------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Well-organized but small groups of hecklers 
(including some from Manila) hounded President Arroyo at 
several stops over alleged human rights violations in the 
Philippines.  In Australia, a private airplane reportedly 
towing a banner "Stop Gloria-fying Berdugo Palparon" (a 
reference to a former Armed Forces of the Philippines 
commander implicated in extra-judicial killings) flew 
overhead during the welcome ceremony for President Arroyo. 
There was also an unusual protest by the leftist Bayan Muna 
"party-list" group outside the Australian Embassy in Manila 
on May 31. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (C) The SOFA with Australia is only the second such 
agreement undertaken by the Philippines, after our VFA. 
Ratification of the SOFA by the Philippine Senate promises to 
be a contentious affair, as the new Senate will likely be 
dominated by foes of the Arroyo Administration, with eyes on 
the Presidential elections in 2010.  The absence on the scene 
of former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, who had long 
championed the Australian SOFA and similar agreements with 
ASEAN members and who had laid the groundwork with the 
departing 13th Congress, may weaken the Administration's 
ability to persuade the new Senate to go along with this 
SOFA, at least in the short run. 
 
Visit Embassy Manila's Classified website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm 
KENNEY