PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT WORKING OUT DETAILS OF ARF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 001763

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/23/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL RP
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT WORKING OUT DETAILS OF ARF
DISASTER RELIEF EXERCISE

Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a meeting with U.S. officials in Manila
July 17, Philippine officials confirmed their commitment to
co-host with the United States an ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)
Disaster Relief Exercise in Manila during 2009, but said they
have many hurdles to overcome internally before a date is set
for the event. While Ministry of Foreign Affairs Assistant
Secretary for American Affairs Lourdes Yparraguirre said "we
are not out of the woods yet" in terms of getting a
Philippine interagency group established to work on details
of the exercise, she said Philippine officials from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of National Defense,
and Armed Forces of the Philippines had come to agreement on
some basic tenets of the exercise. Key to acceptance by
Philippine officials was the acknowledgment by the USG that
the exercise would be -- and be seen as -- civilian-led, with
participating military forces from ARF nations playing a
supporting role. During the meeting, U.S. planners pushed
the Philippine government to work toward making an
announcement of the exercise dates by the August 18-21 Mutual
Defense Board/Security Engagement Board meeting in Hawaii, at
which senior U.S. and Philippine government officials will be
present. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) During a meeting with U.S. officials in Manila July
17, a Philippine interagency group affirmed the Philippine
government's desire to co-host a disaster relief exercise
involving ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) nations with the United
States next year. The Philippine government first agreed in
principle to the concept in March 2007, but it was not until
President Arroyo visited Washington in June that the USG
received a firm commitment that the exercise would be held in
the Philippines, sometime in 2009. USG attendees at the
meeting thanked the Philippine officials for their hard work,
acknowledging the many equities that had to be satisfied for
all parties to make the exercise a success. Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for American Affairs
Lourdes Yparraguirre stressed that the Philippine side was
"not out of the woods yet" with regard to Philippine
interagency coordination, but that key agencies in the
Philippine government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the
Philippines) already were discussing the disaster relief
response in greater detail.


3. (C) USG officials at the meeting highlighted the
Balikatan exercise in April 2009 as the preferred venue on
which to append the ARF exercise. In previous Balikatan
planning events, AFP officials had raised concerns with the
Embassy that the ARF exercise would supplant Balikatan, an
issue that was quickly voiced by the Philippine delegation at
the meeting. USG officials assured the Philippine
interagency group that while Balikatan would retain its
combat training focus, conducting the ARF exercise at the end
of Balikatan was a priority for the U.S., because of the
availability of military assets that already would be in
place. Philippine officials said they would take this point
under consideration as they evaluated possible dates for the
exercise. U.S. officials stressed the need for a quick
decision on the event dates, and Philippine officials said
they hoped to have an answer by the August 18-21 Mutual
Defense Board/Security Engagement Board in Hawaii.


4. (C) Both sides notionally concurred that the scope of
this groundbreaking event would need to be such that all
parties involved could feel they participated in a meaningful
event with tangible results. At the same time, U.S. and
Philippine officials agreed that the number of participants
would need to be limited, given the abbreviated planning
horizon for an event in 2009. Initial discussions centered
on a disaster relief scenario of no more than a week, with
approximately 200-300 multinational participants. The event
would simulate a real disaster (typhoon, earthquake, volcanic
eruption, etc.) common to Southeast Asia and probably take
place outside of Luzon, where the bulk of Balikatan events
would be held. The Visayas region of the central
Philippines, which is in the path of frequent typhoons, is an
area under consideration. Both sides agreed that
geographically separating the event from Balikatan, to the
extent possible, would help to distinguish the event as
humanitarian -- rather than military -- in nature.


5. (C) A key point that Philippine officials brought up
throughout the meeting was their strong preference for the
ARF exercise to be civilian-led, with participating military
forces from ARF nations playing a supporting role, rather
than being involved in face-to-face delivery of relief
services. Although the Philippine Department of National

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Defense has overall responsibility for disaster relief in the
country, the subordinate civilian-chaired National Disaster
Coordinating Council (NDCC) would be the lead Philippine
agency for the ARF exercise, with logistical support and
manpower supplied by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The NDCC includes the Red Cross, Department of Social
Welfare, Department of Health, and the military, among
others. U.S. officials said that while one of the key
reasons for conducting the ARF exercise was to display the
group's ability to conduct major multinational relief
exercises, we were in agreement that the civilian leadership
should be out front.



6. (C) Discussing the ARF exercise in relation to the July
24 ARF Ministerial in Singapore, Philippine officials
presented a draft "Rules of Participation" to USG officials
that emphasized several points, including that all
participation would be self-funded by ARF nations, that
participants from countries that do not have a Status of
Forces Agreement with the Philippines would be under
Philippine jurisdiction and have to obtain appropriate visas,
and that military personnel would provide operational support
under civilian leadership. USG officials concurred with the
Philippine proposal to circulate the draft "Rules of
Participation" on the margins of the ARF Ministerial and
solicit comment from member nations. Philippine officials
also proposed attaching a draft joint U.S.-Philippine
statement announcing the exercise as an appendix to the ARF
proceedings, to which USG officials acceded. In a sign that
the Philippines will use the ministerial to socialize the ARF
exercise, prior to departing for Singapore, Foreign Secretary
Alberto Romulo announced on July 20 that the Philippines
would be the site for a "disaster relief drill" between ARF
nations in 2009. Details of the "drill" -- scenario,
location, date, and participants -- are still being planned,
Romulo said, but that the exercise "might be held around
May." Romulo added, "That's being worked out because the
purpose is for each neighbor to help each other, so for it to
be effective, the more countries pooling resources, the
better."

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COMMENT
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7. (C) It has been difficult for the Philippine government
to get to this point, and their delegation was visibly
uncomfortable during the meeting when it came to discussing
specifics about the ARF exercise. The "Rules of
Participation" document seemed to reflect some consensus on
the Philippine side for certain issues, but it is clear that
the key decisionmakers in the Department of National Defense
and Armed Forces of the Philippines will have to be more
involved before a date is set for the exercise. The Embassy
will continue to push our Philippine interlocutors to make a
decision before the August 18-21 meeting in Hawaii, but U.S.
and participating ARF nations officials should be prepared
for a shortened planning timeline, as announcement may not
take place at that time. We have emphasized the need to
begin involving ARF partners as soon as possible,
particularly with regard to funding and asset allocation, and
have pushed Philippine officials as far as appropriate on key
issues to this point. Nevertheless, USG planners have to be
prepared for the protracted Philippine decision cycle and to
respond quickly once the exercise planning commences in
earnest. As an example, when queried about the their
government's decision to allow foreign military participation
in the ARF exercise -- a major point of contention due to
Philippine Constitutional restrictions -- Philippine
officials confided to the U.S. delegation that their
interagency had not come into agreement on the issue until
the night before President Arroyo raised the ARF disaster
relief exercise with Secretary Gates in Washington. END
COMMENT.

KENNEY