PHILIPPINE PLANS FOR ASEAN SUMMITS IN CEBU

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 004855 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2011 TAGS: PREL ECIN PTER ASEAN XE RU CH JA KN KS RP SUBJECT: PHILIPPINE PLANS FOR ASEAN SUMMITS IN CEBU REF: A. MANILA 4854 ¶B. STATE 190890 Classified By: Pol/C Scott Bellard, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. The Philippines plans to make a new counterterrorism convention and recommendations on an ASEAN Charter the highlights of the December 11 ASEAN Summit. The subsequent ASEAN 3 Summit and East Asia Summit will probably break no new ground and will not include new participants, although expected accessions by France and East Timor to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation will enable those countries to take part in EAS in 2007. All three summits will likely include a reiteration of the earlier ASEAN call for North Korea to return to the Six Party Talks (unless these have resumed by then) and a measured call for a breakthrough in the Doha Round. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) In a meeting on November 30, Department of Foreign Affairs Director General for ASEAN Luis Cruz and Deputy Director General Benito B. Valeriano described Philippine expectations for the December 11 ASEAN Summit, the December 12 ASEAN 1 Summits (three) and an ASEAN 3 Summit, and the December 13 East Asia Summit, all of which will take place in the central Visayan city of Cebu. (The U.S. has a consular agent in Cebu, but closed its consulate a decade ago. Pol/C and poloff will be present in Cebu during the meetings, and DFA has promised to invite them to as many social functions as appropriate, as well as to provide substantive updates on the internal discussions as feasible.) With planning and senior officials' meetings already taking place, most of DFA's ASEAN staff will be in Cebu no later than December 4. ASEAN SUMMIT -------------- ¶3. (C) The theme of this year's ASEAN Summit will be "building a community of caring societies," one of the four "strategic thrusts" of the socio-cultural community pillar for which the Philippines assumed responsibility under the Bali Concord II in October 2003. (The other two pillars are the political-security community and the economic community.) President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo nonetheless plans to make counterterrorism a key theme of this session, Cruz explained, noting that this topic cuts across all three major pillars. He emphasized that this issue is "at the top of President Arroyo's list." Discussions continue among senior officials on the language of a proposed Convention on Counterterrorism -- focused mostly on increasing capacity building, training, information exchanges, and networking -- which the Philippines hopes can be adopted at this Summit. At the very least, the Philippines expects a Declaration on Counterterrorism should the formal language of the Convention be impossible to agree upon in the next two weeks, Cruz added. He nonetheless expressed "high hopes" for the Convention during this Summit, pointing to the already robust CT cooperation in the region and the existing national CT legislation in most ASEAN countries (although not yet the Philippines). ¶4. (C) Also under the rubric of "building a community of caring societies," the Philippines is looking for: -- a "Cebu declaration" confirming this goal, which also will explicitly reflect support for the Millennium Development Goals; -- acceleration of community building targets to bridge the development gap within ASEAN; and, -- heightened awareness of HIV/AIDS and calls for additional funding. ¶5. (C) The second "strategic thrust" of the socio-cultural pillar is to manage the social impact of economic integration, which DG Cruz confirmed ASEAN now wants to achieve by 2015 rather than by the initially envisioned 2020 goal, including by: -- promoting welfare and protection of migrant workers; -- encouraging freer movement of specialized labor, notably (Philippine) nurses but perhaps eventually broadening to include other professions such as accounting and architecture; -- urging resumption of Doha development round (as per ref a, DG Cruz separately confirmed that the Summit would seek a MANILA 00004855 002 OF 003 balanced statement along the lines of the APEC Leaders' statement) as well as conclusion of other free trade agreements. Cruz noted that WTO chief Pascal Lamy, as well as the President of the Asian Development Bank, will have a working dinner with ASEAN Economic Ministers to discuss trade issues, while the 30-person ASEAN Business Advisory Council (three from each member) will meet separately with the ASEAN leaders; and, -- seeking greater energy security, including by increased use of biofuels, which DG Cruz underscored has the additional developmental advantage of promoting agriculture. DG Cruz also emphasized that greater economic integration and CT efforts would have a positive impact on the situation in the Philippines' Muslim Mindanao, and expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by many ASEAN partners, including the U.S. ¶6. (C) To highlight the third socio-cultural goal of enhancing environmental sustainability, the leaders will note with approval a "Cebu resolution" agreed upon by ASEAN environmental ministers, which calls for strengthened environmental laws, mitigation measures on the impact of climate change -- notably the haze/fire problem in the region -- and support for the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, located in Los Banos, the Philippines. The Philippines is also seeking closer cooperation on illegal trade in wildlife, illegal logging, and coordinated responses to natural disasters. DG Cruz noted with appreciation Singapore's and Malaysia's assistance, along with that of the U.S., in response to the Leyte landslide earlier this year in the Philippines. He added that the ASEAN members were increasingly also seeking better cooperation regarding their nationals in conflict situations, noting that during the 2006 fighting in Lebanon, Philippine nationals fleeing to Syria, where the Philippines does not have an Embassy, were able to rely on the Indonesian Embassy for help, as others had during the Gulf War, when Filipinos sought assistance at the Indonesian Embassy in Yemen. ¶7. (SBU) The ASEAN leaders will also receive a report from the Eminent Persons Group with recommendations for an ASEAN Charter as part of its final socio-cultural goal of promoting an ASEAN identity. They will appoint a drafting group, with an expectation of a draft for approval at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore in December 2007, according to Cruz. ASEAN Summits -------------- ¶8. (C) DDG Valeriano predicted very little new substance to the ASEAN China, ASEAN Japan, ASEAN South Korea, and ASEAN 3 Summits, although he said that each would likely touch upon the issue of North Korea and reiterate support for the Six Party Talks, along the lines of statements the Philippines has already issued on behalf of ASEAN. If a new round of talks has not begun by these meetings on December 12, the leaders may again offer Cebu or the Philippines as a venue for talks, Valeriano added. The leaders will also review current assistance projects, including technical training and education, according to Valeriano. East Asia Summit -------------- ¶9. (C) DG Cruz noted that the Foreign Ministers of France and Timor Leste will sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation at the ASEAN Summit, which will make these countries eligible to participate in the 2007 East Asia Summit but not at the December 13 session. As in the initial EAS last year, participants will include the leaders from ASEAN members, China, South Korea, Japan, India, New Zealand, and Australia. Despite earlier expectations that Russia would have acceded to the TAC in time for President Putin to attend this Summit, Russia has "not been too active" and has been "slow with initiatives," according to Cruz, and its eventual participation is no longer as certain. ¶10. (C) DDG Valeriano predicted that the key themes of a EAS statement will focus on counterterrorism, North Korea, protection of migrant workers, and energy security, without any surprises. The meeting should last only a few hours, he noted. MANILA 00004855 003 OF 003 Visit Embassy Manila's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/manila/index. cfm KENNEY