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O 131959Z NOV 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO AMEMBASSY MANILA IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 117492 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2019 
TAGS: OVIP CLINTON HILLARY PREL PGOV PTER PHUM
PARM, MOPS, ECON, EAID, KMCA, KNNP, MCC, RP 
SUBJECT: (U) Secretary Clinton's November 12, 2009 
conversation with Philippine Foreign Secretary Romulo 
 
¶1.  (U) Classified by: Virginia Bennett, Deputy 
Executive Secretary, S/ES, Department of State. Reason 
1.4 (d). 
 
¶2.  (U) November 12, 2009; 1:30 p.m.; Manila, 
Philippines. 
 
¶3.  (U) Participants: 
 
U.S. 
The Secretary 
Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney 
Ambassador Scot Marciel, EAP DAS 
Deputy Chief of Staff Jake Sullivan 
Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin 
DAS Philippe Reines, PA 
LTGEN Paul Selva, JCS 
David Greenberg (Embassy Notetaker) 
 
PHILIPPINES 
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo 
Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro 
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Office of the 
President 
Undersecretary Enrique Manalo, DFA 
Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, DFA 
Ambassador to the United States Willy Gaa 
Ambassador Libran Cabactulan 
Assistant Secretary Evan Garcia, DFA 
Assistant Secretary Lourdes Yparraguirre, DFA 
Deena Amatong (DFA Notetaker) 
 
 
¶4.  (C) SUMMARY.  Foreign Secretary Romulo and Defense 
Secretary Teodoro briefed Secretary Clinton on damage 
from recent storms, described their work toward 
concluding by June a comprehensive peace agreement with 
the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), 
and urged  Millennium Challenge Corporation flexibility 
with respect to the Philippines' candidacy.  The 
Secretary outlined USG non-proliferation goals and U.S. 
steps to address climate change, and encouraged the GRP 
to take further steps to prevent extrajudicial killings. 
The Secretary also urged the GRP to continue to press 
the Burmese government to hold a credible dialogue with 
the Burmese opposition.   END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------- 
DISASTER RELIEF 
--------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Foreign Secretary Romulo invited Secretary 
Teodoro, who headed Philippine disaster relief efforts, 
to brief on damage from storms in September and October. 
Teodoro explained that the storms had affected over 1.1 
million families and caused damage amounting to 38 
billion Pesos (approximately 808 million USD), 26 
billion of which was in the form of damage to crops. 
The GRP continued to operate 400 evacuation centers and 
provide air relief services to isolated areas.  Portions 
of the country remained flooded, and further rains could 
still have a severe impact. 
 
¶6. (C) Teodoro explained the GRP was working with the UN 
to expand the scope of its earlier international flash 
appeal for assistance.  Both Teodoro and Romulo thanked 
the Secretary for relief assistance provided by the USG. 
 
 
¶7. (C) The Secretary commended the GRP's response to the 
flooding and said the USG would continue to consult with 
the GRP on challenges it would face in reconstruction. 
 
 
---------------------- 
SOUTHERN PEACE PROCESS 
---------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) DFA Undersecretary Seguis explained progress in 
the GRP's peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation 
Front (MILF).  Seguis, who chairs the GRP's peace panel, 
cited the GRP's July agreement to a cease-fire with the 
MILF, the September agreement on a framework agreement 
for the formation of an International Contact Group 
(ICG), and the October agreement on mechanisms to 
protect civilian populations.  Seguis expected to travel 
to Kuala Lumpur for further informal talks with the MILF 
on November 16.  He hoped those talks would allow the 
two sides to finalize their list of state participants 
in the ICG, and that subsequent discussions in December 
would include an exchange of drafts of a comprehensive 
peace agreement.  The GRP and MILF were expediting their 
efforts with the goal of concluding a peace agreement 
before the June 2010 end of President Arroyo's term. 
 
¶9. (C) The Secretary asked whether the MILF would agree 
to provisions for sufficient monitoring and 
verification.  Seguis replied that he would need to see 
the MILF's draft before he could feel confident about 
such issues.  While having rejected prior MILF demands 
for secession, the GRP was willing to provide expanded 
autonomy to areas currently under MILF control, but the 
MILF was pushing for more concessions, such as the 
designation of territorial waters and allocation of a 
greater share of natural resources.  The GRP was willing 
to make concessions, but only within constitutional 
parameters. 
 
------------------ 
MILENIUM CHALLENGE 
------------------ 
 
¶10. (C) Executive Secretary Ermita reviewed the status 
of the GRP's efforts to become a Millennium Challenge 
Corporation (MCC) Compact partner.  He emphasized the 
Philippines had become eligible in 2008, but then, 
having risen in classification from a Low Income Country 
(LIC) to a Lower Medium Income Country (LMIC), it had 
failed by an extremely narrow margin to meet the higher 
standards applied to LMICs.  Ermita urged that the 
Philippines be judged according to LIC standards.  The 
GRP was currently working with an MCC team to assess 
projects for road development, information systems for 
government revenue collection, and the delivery of 
social services to poor areas. 
 
¶11. (C) The Secretary welcomed the progress that had led 
to the Philippines' rise to the LMIC category.  She 
hoped the MCC's board would decide that the Philippines 
could remain Compact-eligible, especially given that the 
devastation of recent storms would have a serious 
negative effect on national income. 
 
----------------- 
NON-PROLIFERATION 
----------------- 
 
¶12. (C) Secretary Romulo praised the Obama 
administration's leadership on non-proliferation and 
said he looked forward to the Philippines chairing the 
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference 
in May.    Romulo asked the Secretary's advice on GRP 
preparations, both for the NPT Review Conference and for 
the April nuclear security summit in Washington. 
 
¶13. (C) The Secretary welcomed Philippine efforts to 
date.  It would be important to strengthen the NPT and 
broaden the international non-proliferation regime.  She 
especially hoped the GRP would use its leadership to 
keep the NPT Review Conference focused on global issues. 
Some governments would likely try to direct the 
Conference's attention toward the Middle East, and 
specifically on Israel.  The USG was also concerned 
about the Middle East, and on the significant threats 
posed by Iran and, to a lesser extent, Syria; North 
Korea has been a major proliferator of nuclear 
technology.  But the Conference should consider broad 
issues not specific to particular countries, including 
the need for greater safeguards of nuclear materials, 
the need to prevent covert nuclear programs, and ways to 
enable countries to become peaceful generators of 
nuclear power. 
 
¶14. (C) Secretary Clinton noted that the USG stood ready 
to provide the GRP with technical assistance in the run- 
up to the Review Conference, and the USG's top non- 
proliferation officials stood ready to assist in any way 
necessary. 
 
 
 
-------------- 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
-------------- 
 
¶15. (C) Taking note of the upcoming United Nations 
Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, 
Romulo invited the Secretary to share her thoughts on 
climate change, an important issue for President Arroyo. 
The Secretary explained that the U.S. Congress continued 
to work on a climate change bill, and, while this would 
not become law by the time of the Conference, its 
progress would demonstrate the United States' 
seriousness.  The USG had already taken action in the 
regulatory arena, limiting car and utility emissions, 
and economic stimulus legislation included 89 billion 
USD for clean energy technology and environmentally- 
helpful retrofitting projects. 
 
¶16. (C) The Secretary said the Copenhagen Conference 
appeared likely to move not toward a legally-binding 
treaty, but rather toward a framework agreement, which 
could include countries voluntarily establishing 
obligations under their domestic laws.  Developed 
countries had an interest in establishing financial 
mechanisms to assist developing countries with projects 
that would benefit the environment.  The USG could 
provide other governments with ideas and technical 
assistance to help inform their efforts;  many 
environmental initiatives would provide an economic 
boost, rather than interfering with economic growth. 
 
--------------------------------- 
COUNTERTERRORISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶17. (C) Turning to counterterrorism (CT), Executive 
Secretary Ermita noted the Abu Sayyaf Group's (ASG) 
connections to Al Qaeda and interest in undertaking 
terrorist acts throughout the country.  The GRP had 
responded successfully to terrorist threats and had 
killed or captured many ASG leaders.  The GRP was 
working to upgrade the capabilities of its lead CT unit. 
 
¶18. (C) The Secretary acknowledged the threat posed by 
the ASG and other transnational terrorist groups.  The 
USG wanted to continue and deepen intelligence-sharing 
and military-to-military cooperation with the GRP.  It 
was important, though, that CT efforts not take on a 
repressive character.  The USG has been concerned with 
extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, although the 
GRP has made progress in this area. She urged that the 
GRP give special attention to strengthening prosecution 
efforts against those accused of extrajudicial killings. 
She also commended the GRP on the successful visit to 
the Philippines of an International Labour Organization 
delegation in September; previous killings of Philippine 
labor activists had raised concerns. 
 
----- 
BURMA 
----- 
 
¶19. (C) The Secretary thanked Secretary Romulo for the 
GRP's leadership within ASEAN, and for the GRP's support 
for Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK).  The USG was adjusting its 
approach toward Burma in order that democracy might be 
able to take hold there, and would appreciate ASEAN 
taking on a greater role in Burma, perhaps observing the 
2010 elections.  Secretary Romulo said the USG could 
count on Philippine support on Burma; President Arroyo 
had been very firm on this issue.  Romulo also welcomed 
the USG decision not to lift existing sanctions on 
Burma. 
 
CHILD ABDUCTION 
--------------- 
 
¶20. (C) The Secretary raised the Hague Convention on the 
Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. 
Explaining the USG was a party to the Convention and had 
championed it for years, the Secretary stressed the 
importance of resolving custody issues in the best 
interest of the children.  She urged that the GRP 
consider the merits of the Convention; Romulo said the 
GRP would do so. 
CLINTON