US embassy cable - 05MANILA5331

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 005331 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, G/TIP, IO/UNP 
NSC FOR H. MORROW 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/15/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PINR, MARR, PTER, PHUM, ETRD, RP, BM, UNSC 
SUBJECT: EAP DAS JOHN'S NOVEMBER 11 MEETING WITH PRESIDENT 
ARROYO:  PDR, COUNTERTERRORISM, TIFA, TIP, BURMA 
 
REF: A. MANILA 5317 
 
     B. MANILA 5300 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., Paul W. Jones for 
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1. (C) Summary:  EAP DAS John and Charge met November 11 with 
President Arroyo.  Arroyo underscored her government's 
support for Philippine Defense Reform (PDR) and continued 
counterterrorism cooperation.  She expressed interest in the 
U.S. and the GRP agreeing to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), 
said the GRP was committed to fighting TIP, and also pledged 
support for a proposed UN Security Council briefing on the 
Burmese human rights situation.  DAS John noted the USG's 
continued support for PDR, urged the GRP to make the U.S.-GRP 
Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) as effective 
as possible, urged more progress on TIP, and thanked Arroyo 
for her support regarding Burma.  (See Septel for Arroyo's 
comments regarding emergency rule and Ref A concerning her 
comments on the alleged rape case involving U.S. Marines.) 
End Summary. 
 
Philippine Defense Reform 
------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) EAP DAS Eric John, accompanied by CDA Jones, met with 
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on November 11.  (complete 
list of participants in para 8).  John emphasized that he was 
focused on improving the already positive level of 
cooperation between the U.S. and the Philippines on a range 
of substantive issues.  He cited several areas where the USG 
and the GRP were working together well such as Philippine 
Defense Reform (PDR), counterterrorism, and economic reform. 
President Arroyo noted that she strongly supported PDR and 
was working to strengthen it.  Arroyo said the GRP 
anticipated a savings of 37 billion pesos (USD 673 million) 
on its debt service in 2006 due to increased revenue 
collection, which will enable her to seek Congressional 
approval to allocate more funds to PDR.  Arroyo inquired 
whether the USG would be able to match any additional GRP 
contributions to PDR.  DAS John responded that it would 
depend on future U.S. budgets, but that the USG would try to 
do all it could to support the program.  Arroyo commented 
that if the U.S. were unable to match the GRP's increased 
funding, the GRP would finance that part of PDR itself 
because the program was very important to her government. 
(Note:  See septel regarding DAS John's discussion of PDR 
with GRP defense officials.  End Note.) 
 
Counterterrorism 
---------------- 
 
3.  (C) Arroyo added that PDR would result in the Philippines 
being better equipped to fight terrorism.  DAS John pointed 
out that Southeast Asia remained a significant front in the 
global war on terror and praised the excellent cooperation 
between the USG and GRP in the southern Philippines.  The 
enactment of a counterterrorism law by the Philippines would 
send a strong signal, as would success in apprehending key 
terrorists.  Arroyo noted the recent arrests of several 
high-value terrorist suspects, adding that her government 
firmly supported an anti-terrorism law and was pushing it 
forward in Congress. 
 
Trade and Investment 
-------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Arroyo inquired about the status of the TIFA between 
the USG and the GRP.  She expressed interest in a US-RP FTA 
in the future.  DAS John replied that the USG wanted to make 
the TIFA as effective as possible.  He also noted that 
President Bush's Fast-Track Authority was scheduled to run 
out in the summer of 2007.  Charge noted that we would like 
for the Philippines to move off of the Special 301 Watch List 
for Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) deficiencies as soon 
as possible.  A recent assessment team had reported some 
positive news regarding respect for IPR in the Philippines, 
but problems remain in obtaining convictions of violators, he 
underscored. 
 
Trafficking in Persons 
---------------------- 
 
5.  (C) Arroyo conceded that enforcement remained a problem 
for both IPR and human trafficking.  Arroyo promised that TIP 
would be an important issue on the agenda of her November 15 
Cabinet meeting.  DAS John urged immediate progress in TIP 
prosecutions and convictions.  He flagged that Ambassador 
John Miller of G/TIP would visit the Philippines from 
December 3-6 to discuss trafficking-related action with GRP 
and NGO officials. 
 
Burma 
----- 
 
6.  (C) DAS John noted that President Bush and Secretary Rice 
were both very interested in and personally committed to the 
issue of democracy and human rights in Burma, noting the 
President's October 31 White House meeting with Burmese 
activist Charm Tong as the most recent evidence of this 
commitment.  DAS John pointed out that the threat of 
narcotics, disease, refugees, etc., emanating from Burma were 
serious problems.  Burma was an international problem and 
required international cooperation, he emphasized.  We would 
like to compare notes with other countries in the region 
about what is happening in Burma, so that a consensus could 
be reached on how each country can contribute to promoting 
democracy there. 
 
7.  (C) DAS John highlighted that the U.S. supported a 
proposal that would lead to a briefing of the UN Security 
Council on Burma's human rights situation.  We had approached 
the GRP on the issue and we needed its support.  Arroyo asked 
how many votes there now were in support of such a discussion 
at the UNSC.  DAS John responded that he believed that it was 
close and that Philippine support was crucial.  Arroyo 
reiterated her promise that the GRP would support the USG on 
this matter, and noted that she looked forward to seeing 
President Bush in Busan, Korea. 
 
8.  (U) Participants in the November 11, 2:30 P.M., meeting 
at Malacanang Palace: 
 
U.S.: 
EAP DAS Eric G. John 
Charge d'Affaires Paul W. Jones 
Acting Political Counselor Joseph L. Novak 
Political Officer Timothy Cipullo (Notetaker) 
 
GRP: 
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Romulo 
 
SIPDIS 
DFA Assistant Secretary Ariel Abadilla 
Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Albert Del Rosario 
DFA Americas Desk Officer Angelito Nayan 
 
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You can also access this site through the State 
Department's Classified SIPRNET website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/ 
 
Jones