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O 150920Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6280
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 000090 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/RSP - RODRIGUEZ AND ANDERSON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2020 
TAGS: ECIN PREL XC XE XU ASEAN APECO ARF RP
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINES LAUDS SECRETARY CLINTON'S SPEECH ON 
ASIA-PACIFIC MULTILATERALISM 
 
REF: A. STATE 4128 (EXPEDITED REQUEST) 
     ¶B. MANILA 70 (DINNER WITH FOREIGN MINISTER) 
     ¶C. MANILA 60 (BREAKFAST WITH TEODORO) 
 
Classified By: DCM Leslie A. Bassett, reason: 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: A senior Department of Foreign Affairs 
official lauded Secretary Clinton's January 12 speech on 
regional architecture, calling it another welcome sign of 
U.S. re-engagement with East Asia.  The government continues 
to formulate its response, and Foreign Secretary Alberto 
Romulo will present his views on regional architecture when 
he speaks at the Center for Strategic and International 
Studies (CSIS) in Washington February 4.  The humanitarian 
disaster in Haiti, as well as developments connected to 
upcoming Philippine elections, resulted in limited press 
coverage of the speech.  Nevertheless, policymakers and the 
general public remain very favorably impressed by the 
Secretary's November visit to Manila.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) A senior Department of Foreign Affairs official was 
highly laudatory of the Secretary's January 12 speech on 
regional architecture, calling it another welcome sign of the 
United States' re-engagement with Asia, and especially 
Southeast Asia.  Assistant Secretary for American Affairs 
Lourdes Yparraguirre told us that in the past several years, 
ASEAN diplomats had voiced concerns about the strength and 
depth of U.S. ties to ASEAN, the ASEAN Regional Forum and 
Asia more broadly.  With Secretary Clinton's recent visits to 
Southeast Asia - including ASEAN-related meetings in 
Singapore and Bangkok -- and her East-West Center speech, the 
Philippine government and other key ASEAN partners felt they 
were receiving "full attention" from Washington and were 
optimistic about improved cooQration on a range of vital 
issues, including regional security, counterterrorism, 
nonproliferation and democracy and human rights. 
 
¶3. (C) A/S Yparraguirre said that the Philippine consulate 
general in Honolulu had immediately provided the text of the 
speech to DFA, and she and other senior Department officials 
were weighing the Philippine response.  She noted that 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo planned to be in 
Washington February 3-5 and was scheduled to speak at the 
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) 
February 4.  Secretary Romulo's remarks would cover a variety 
of key topics, and following Secretary Clinton's example he 
would be giving views on regional architecture and 
cooperation as well. 
 
¶4. (C) Yparraguirre stressed that the Philippines took very 
seriously its role as a dialogue partner for the U.S. in 
enhancing cooperation with ASEAN and the ASEAN Regional 
Forum.  She underscored Manila's shared commitment with the 
U.S. to press for democracy and human rights in Burma and 
throughout ASEAN, and to support even stronger bilateral and 
regional cooperation on other crucial concerns - including 
counterterrorism, nonproliferation, the Six-Party Talks with 
North Korea.  Yparraguirre praised the Secretary's 
reaffirmation of the central importance of U.S. bilateral 
alliances in Asia, saying that our mutual defense treaty was 
a cornerstone of Philippine security and enabled excellent 
cooperation on counterterrorism as well as robust disaster 
relief efforts and military exercises.  The Philippines was 
committed to close coordination with the U.S. in its role as 
chair of the Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference this 
spring, and President Arroyo had accepted President Obama's 
invitation to attend the nuclear security summit in April. 
 
¶5. (U) The Philippine media has focused its recent coverage 
on the tragic humanitarian crisis in Haiti (affecting also 
Philippine peacekeepers there), as well as on developments 
related to upcoming national Philippine elections.  The 
Philippine Star, one of the country's top three national 
dailies, reported on the speech on January 14.  A leading 
columnist for the top-circulation Manila Bulletin has told us 
she is writing an op-ed that should appear in the next 
several days.  We have posted the transcript on the Embassy 
website's home page, and we also have distributed transcripts 
to the 13 American Corners in the Philippines, which had been 
alerted in advance about the speech and its live internet 
webcast. 
 
¶6. (U) Philippine policymakers and the general public remain 
highly impressed by the Secretary's November visit to Manila. 
 
MANILA 00000090  002 OF 002 
 
 
 Her highly successful "townterview" continues to have an 
impact, having been rebroadcast by local television numerous 
times, most recently on December 31.  Both Foreign Secretary 
Alberto Romulo and ruling party presidential candidate 
Gilberto Teodoro continue to tell the Ambassador how 
impressed they were with the Secretary's visit (ref B, C). 
We expect that the January 12 speech will continue to 
percolate through government and academia here, generating 
further thoughtful responses in the coming weeks. 
KENNEY