PRESIDENT ARROYO LAUDS OBAMA VICTORY IN MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L MANILA 002504 FOR EAP/MTS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/05/2018 TAGS: PREL RP PINR KISL EAID UNGA SUBJECT: PRESIDENT ARROYO LAUDS OBAMA VICTORY IN MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR Classified By: Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney, reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a private meeting November 5 with the Ambassador at Malacanang Palace just moments after the results of the U.S. presidential election were known, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo lauded Senator Barack Obama's victory as an extraordinary moment in U.S. history in which Americans should take great pride. She also praised the efforts and patriotism of Senator John McCain, and immediately placed calls to express her admiration to both candidates through the Operations Center. Based on her conversations with Senator Obama this summer, President Arroyo voiced confidence that U.S.-Philippine ties would remain strong. The Ambassador stressed the importance of maintaining energetic efforts to create a durable peace in Mindanao, and President Arroyo restated her firm commitment to return to peace negotiations as soon as possible. The President urged once again that the U.S. support the Philippine candidate for the International Court of Justice, and lamented the Philippine's failure to pass a key Millennium Challenge Corporation corruption indicator. End summary. "AMAZING MOMENT" -------------- ¶2. (C) The Ambassador opened the meeting by reporting that the 56th U.S. presidential election had effectively concluded, Senator John McCain had conceded defeat and President-elect Barack Obama had just delivered a victory speech to his supporters in Chicago. ¶3. (C) President Arroyo had high praise for the American election process, calling the November 4 poll "an amazing moment for America," and said that President-elect Obama's victory should be a day of great pride for the United States. She paid tribute to the vision, dedication and energy of both candidates, and said she would immediately place calls to both to offer her warm regards on a battle well fought. (Post heard from the Operations Center shortly after the meeting that Malacanang Palace had requested to speak with both men at the earliest opportunity.) CONTINUED STRONG TIES -------------- ¶4. (C) President Arroyo noted her satisfaction that she had been able to converse with Senator Obama during her visit to the U.S. last summer, and that she had received a letter from the then-candidate promising that, if he were elected, U.S. ;policy toward the Philippines would not change and our relations would remain strong. She gave the Ambassador a copy of a press statement she had just released (full text in para. 10). ¶5. (C) The Ambassador fully endorsed President Arroyo's sentiments, saying that the nearly 1,000 Filipino and American participants who had taken part in the Embassy's just-concluded election watch event had found the day's events thrilling and emotional. Senator McCain's heartfelt concession speech had drawn tears from numerous participants, and emphasized the very best in American politics -- after a long, hard-fought campaign, he urged his supporters to join him in uniting behind the new President-elect and helping him to succeed. Similarly, Senator Obama's journey to the White House was unique, bringing us a President with a remarkable, global background -- African father, American mother, childhood spent in Indonesia. COMMITMENT TO PEACE -------------- ¶6. (C) The Ambassador noted that the President-elect's transition team would soon be turning their thoughts to a wide array of issues, including foreign policy, and that the status of efforts to achieve peace in Mindanao could be a key focus for the Philippines. The Ambassador said that it would be important to be able to report that the President and her government remained fully committed to achieving a durable peace agreement with Muslim insurgents in Mindanao, and ensuring increased stability and prosperity in the south. Resolving the ongoing global economic crisis would be another vital agenda item. ¶7. (C) President Arroyo stressed that the Ambassador was exactly on target, that her government was determined to return to peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. She welcomed the prospect of continued close international cooperation in meeting the extraordinary economic challenges facing nations around the globe. ICJ SUPPORT -------------- ¶8. (C) Turning to other issues of concern to the Philippines, President Arroyo strongly urged that the United States support the candidacy of Philippine Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago in the November 6 UN voted to fill vacancies in the International Court of Justice. The Ambassador replied that President Arroyo had carried out an energetic and forceful campaign on behalf of Senator Defensor-Santiago, and her qualifications were well known to the United States. DISMAY OVER MCC CORRUPTION INDICATOR -------------- ¶9. (C) President Arroyo voiced deep disappointment at the news that the Philippines was unlikely to pass a key corruption indicator used by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). She complained that the failing score was the result of changed methodology in measuring levels of corruption, and that it was not fair to change the rules in the midst of the Philippines' effort to create an MCC compact agreement. The Ambassador emphasized the importance that MCC and the U.S. government attached to reducing corruption, and the key role that the corruption indicators played in the MCC's decisionmaking process. ¶10. (U) The text of President Arroyo's press statement on the outcome of the U.S. election follows: PRESIDENTIAL PRESS STATEMENT PRES. GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO November 5, 2008 On the Election of Senator Barack Obama As the 44th U.S. President On behalf of the Filipino nation and the Filipino people, I congratulate Senator Barack Obama on his election as the 44th President of the United States. We welcome his triumph in the same vein that we place the integrity of the U.S. electoral process and the choices made by the American people in high regard. We likewise note the making of history with the election of Senator Obama as the first African-American President of the United States. The Philippine Government, and the Filipino nation for that matter, has closely observed this elections as it would any important developments in its strongest country-ally. We salute the Filipino-Americans who have actively taken part in this electoral exercise - truly of democracy in action - as we also trust that their choices to ultimately and positively impact their Motherland, the Philippines, as much as it will redound to the betterment of the United States of America as a nation and as a people. With the next administration of the United States, bilateral relations between the Philippines and the United States covering various aspects of political, social, economic, and cultural life, will remain strong and stable as ever. We look forward to closely working with Senator Obama in strengthening regional cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, as well as in addressing the concerns of our World War II veterans here and in the United States. This much we can expect from a country-ally whose strong relations with our country we have mutually nurtured through decades past and which we both enjoy to this day. As I am aware of the political and economic challenges that the new U.S. president will face that will, in turn, bear on the global scenario, my family and I pray that Senator Obama be guided always by wisdom from the Almighty God, and wish for his continued success and well-being. End of statement KENNEY