SCENE SETTER FOR THE VISIT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY

UNCLAS MANILA 004522 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP, PM, PM/RSAT, AND EAP/MTS USPACOM ALSO FOR FPA HUSO AND J5 SECDEF/OSD/ISA/AP (TOOLAN/BAILEY) JOINT STAFF/J5 (WILKES/ROBINSON/CLEMMONS) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER MARR MASS MOPS MCAP PREL OVIP HILLEN RP SUBJECT: SCENE SETTER FOR THE VISIT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY HILLEN REF: STATE 176703 ¶1. (SBU) John, a warm welcome to the Philippines! I am looking forward to seeing you. We have a packed program ready for you, including meetings with Foreign Secretary Romulo, Secretary of National Defense Cruz, and Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Esperon and a trip to Jolo to see first-hand our ongoing support for Philippine counterterrorism operations. Before you arrive, I wanted to share some thoughts with you on what you will see and hear. -------------- Counterterrorism Efforts -------------- ¶2. (SBU) President Arroyo is a committed counterterrorism partner. She has repeatedly demonstrated her willingness to work closely with us on combating Islamist extremism. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),supported by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P),is currently in its fourteenth week of continuous operations to capture or kill senior Abu Sayyaf Group and Jemaah Islamiyah leaders on the island of Jolo. We have seen marked improvements, largely through U.S. assistance, in the AFP's ability to sustain and conduct operations. ¶3. (SBU) Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group training in logistics and maintenance has allowed the AFP to keep its troops in the field, ships at sea, and planes in the air. Joint Task Force 515 and JSOTF are fully integrated into the Philippine Navy task force blockading Jolo and have worked seamlessly to surveil and interdict suspect vessels. JSOTF is providing medical support, and its liaison control elements are at all major levels of command, including the maneuver battalions, providing assistance with intelligence and operational guidance. ¶4. (U) You'll have the chance to see on the ground on Jolo how JSOTF civil-military operations, closely integrated with USAID projects, are working with the AFP to separate terrorists from the population. In the town of Panamao, you'll visit school children who now have access to the Internet thanks to USAID, and water and new school buildings as a result of the Balikatan Exercise and JSOTF civil affairs teams. -------------- Muslim Insurgencies -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Although prospects for peace with the insurgent Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) continue to remain hopeful, talks recently hit a snag over the question of ancestral domain, the historically Muslim land claimed by the MILF. We are directly engaged with all players, including the MILF Central Committee, to keep the peace process on track. ¶6. (SBU) USAID devotes nearly 60 percent of its $70 million FY06 assistance budget to Mindanao, where it is focused on reintegrating former combatants, promoting economic growth and business opportunities, education, health and local governance. After the Moro National Liberation Front signed a peace deal with the government in 1996, USAID carried out a range of highly successful programs, including "Arms to Farms," which reintegrated over 28,000 former fighters back into civil society as successful farmers. USAID is ready to implement similar programs should a peace agreement be signed with the MILF. -------------- Defense and Police Reform -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Armed Forces of the Philippines remains heavily engaged in combating internal security threats, but maintains limited external defense capabilities. Readiness is poor and modernization slow due to a lack of funding and commitment of resources. ¶8. (U) Secretary of National Defense Cruz and Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Esperon strongly support the joint Philippine-U.S. Philippine Defense Reform program. The Philippine Government deposited $17.53 million into a Foreign Military Sales holding account in 2004. There are now 11 U.S. Subject Matter Experts on the ground, and more may be added in the near future. In addition to long-term institutional changes, the multi-year Capability Upgrade Program will modernize 72 Philippine Army and 12 Philippine Marine Corps battalions over the next six years. The Battalion Retraining component will focus on better training, personnel and logistics programs, while the longer term Battalions of Excellence concept will introduce new personnel policies, new equipment, and better training capabilities. ¶9. (SBU) The Philippine National Police is plagued with many of the same problems as the Philippine Armed Forces, yet is critical to urban counterterrorism operations, as well as controlling trafficking in persons, narcotics, and smuggling. A United States Senior Law Enforcement Advisor, a former New Mexico State Police captain, recently joined our Embassy team to assist the Philippine Police in its transformation efforts. One short-term intervention he is developing is a targeted training program aimed at improving the sensitive site exploitation and evidence handling skills of police and security officials involved in tracking the terrorists on Jolo. -------------- -------------- Human Rights: Concern Over Extra-Judicial Killings -------------- -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Extrajudicial killings of local leftists, a perennial problem here as in many countries with weak rule of law, have recently attracted much more public attention. Leaders of leftist political groups linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army blame the military and police, while some in the government assert that the killings are the result of an internal purge within the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army. Few of the cases have been resolved, prompting President Arroyo to set up a high-level independent commission and a special national police task force to investigate the killings. The commission is planning to issue its findings in December. We press the government at every opportunity to resolve these killings, and I have discussed them with President Arroyo and key members of her cabinet, as well as the Armed Forces Chief of Staff and the Chief of the Philippine National Police. They all tell me they are as appalled as we are, but we remain insistent that they must get control of this problem. -------------- SMALL ARMS/LIGHT WEAPONS DESTRUCTION -------------- ¶11. (U) We are working closely with PM/WRA to re-start the successful small arms/light weapons destruction program in the Philippines, which we hope to have up and running by the time you arrive. The aim of the program will be to destroy weapons in AFP armories captured from insurgents and terrorists. We have also arranged for you to visit Caballo Island, one of the former U.S.-built fortresses guarding Manila harbor. There you will see an extensive stockpile of former U.S. ordnance, including shells, mines, and torpedoes, which we hope to destroy through the small arms/light weapons program. -------------- MARINE CORPS BALL -------------- ¶12. (U) I'd like to invite you, Brigadier General Toolan, and Rear Admiral Tracy to be my guests at the 231st US Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Our Detachment Marines plan a gala event. You'll have the opportunity to meet the senior leadership of the Philippine military and Department of National Defense in a casual setting. Aside from the stimulating conversation, I'm sure you'll find it a lot of fun, too. -------------- SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS -------------- ¶13. (SBU) In your meetings with Secretaries Romulo and Cruz, as well as your interaction other government officials and the press, you may want to draw on the following talking points. -- Armed Forces of the Philippines engaged in impressive counterterrorism effort on Jolo. -- Glad we can support this important operation to eliminate the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah leadership and the threat they pose. -- Looking forward to seeing for myself how operations are progressing and understanding better how the "Philippine Model" of civil-military operations can help defeat terrorism. -- Philippine Defense Reform represents a commitment to undertake fundamental institutional change. We're proud to be partners in this program. -- We take the issue of extra-judicial killings seriously. Encouraged by steps the Philippine government has taken to try to get control of this problem. -- The Philippines, as chair of ASEAN this year and host of key summits, has a special responsibility in promoting regional stability and cooperation on a wide variety of issues, including a unified response to North Korea's nuclear testing. Visit Embassy Manila's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm KENNEY