O 292312Z AUG 07 FM AMEMBASSY MANILA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8053 UNCLAS MANILA 002931 SUBJECT: STAFFDEL LUSE VISIT

TO THE PHILIPPINES REF: STATE 104535 1. (U) Summary: Mr. Keith Luse, Senior Professional Staff, visited the Philippines from August 14-18 as part of a three-nation Asian visit that also included Indonesia and Mongolia. The purpose of Mr. Luse's visit was to conduct a fieldbased study on bilateral U.S. foreign assistance, and also gather information about the human rights situation in the Philippines, particularly the issue of extra-judicial killings. On foreign assistance, Mr. Luse met with the full range of Embassy sections and staff involved with foreign assistance, government counterparts, NGOs, private sector, and other donors. On the issue of unlawful killings, Mr. Luse had a wide range of meetings including with the Embassy, Philippine government, police, military, and NGOs. Embassy Manila believes the visit was very productive, with excellent opportunities for substantive discussion on human rights issues and exposure to the strong inter-agency approach to U.S. foreign assistance at Post. End Summary.

2. (U) Regarding U.S. bilateral assistance, Mr. Luse met on the USG side with the Charge, the Acting DCM, and Country Team members. He had indepth discussions with USAID; the U.S. military (both the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group, which manages U.S. support to Philippine Defense Reform, and the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, the political section and regional security office (which manage U.S. law enforcement and counterterrorism assistance), Foreign Agricultural Service, and the USAID team managing the Millennium Challenge Corporation's (MCC) Philippines Threshold Program. On the Philippine government side, Mr. Luse met with Senator Gordon (also Chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, a long-time U.S. partner in disaster assistance) and select MCC counterparts, the Assistant Ombudsman, Department of Finance Undersecretary, and the Finance Secretary. Among donors, Mr. Luse had discussions with The World Bank Acting Country Director, the Asian Development Bank Philippines Country Director and the Alternate U.S. Executive Director. Among NGOs, Mr. Luse met with The Asia Foundation and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, both USAID implementing partners. A roundtable dinner hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce gave Mr. Luse the opportunity to hear from the private sector, with the companies such as Ford, Chevron, and Bristol Myers represented. 3. (U) Highlights of the discussions included Embassy Manila's communication of the strong interagency approach to U.S. assistance in the Philippines (especially in Mindanao and on rule of law issues) and program coherence with the foreign

assistance strategic framework and the transformation diplomacy goal. Embassy Manila's integrated and transformational approach pre-dated -- but was deepened by -- foreign assistance reform (the "F process"). The private sector voiced concerns about corruption, smuggling, and other challenges of doing business, but nonetheless said that foreign investors could see good returns in the Philippines. Other donors cited examples of productive coordination with the U.S., such as on procurement reform and tax administration, and praised the Philippine Development Forum (in which the U.S. is an active participant) as a productive vehicle for more substantive Philippines government-donor coordination and a "genuine agent for change." A repeatedly expressed view by many with whom Mr. Luse spoke was that, despite the Philippines' significant challenges, especially in the areas of corruption and rule of law, the U.S. and other donors are able to effectively support "islands of good governance" (as characterized by the World Bank) and reform champions in both government and civil society. Many, therefore, expressed cautious optimism about prospects for progress in the Philippines. 4. (U) On the issue of extra judicial killings, Mr. Luse had a wide range of meetings with a diverse group including the Embassy, Philippines government, police, Philippines military, and NGOs. His discussions with Embassy staff (political section, regional security office and others) and with The Asia Foundation and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems addressed human rights as well as foreign assistance issues. These NGOs said human rights abuses were a serious

concern and cited a weak judicial system as a root cause. In the Philippines government, Mr. Luse met with Senior State Prosecutor and Head of the Presidential Task Force Against Media Harassment of the Philippine Department of Justice, Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy National Security Adviser, and Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Mr. Luse also attended a briefing by the Philippine National Police's "Task Force Usig," which is charged with investigating human rights abuses. Mr. Luse clearly conveyed rising U.S. Congressional concerns, along with those of NGOs and church groups in the United States, and the increasing "perception," whether correct or not, that the Philippines was on a "downward" trend in terms of the rule of law and human rights. 5. (SBU) In several meetings with senior Philippine officials, Luse conveyed serious Congressional concern about extrajudicial killings and explained that his trip was essentially a factfinding visit to learn first-hand about the issue. He added that he hoped to obtain the Philippine government's perspective on the nature of the problem and possible solutions. The Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary asserted that the Philippine government took extrajudicial killings seriously and had recently taken a number of steps to address the issue, such as designating 99 special courts to hear such cases and providing additional funding to the Commission on Human Rights. However, the Undersecretary explained that the killings did not occur in a vacuum, but resulted partly from the Philippine government's concurrent fight against three insurgencies

(communist, Muslim, and terrorist). In addition, he claimed that many of the killings were actually perpetrated by the Communist National People's Army, which was currently purging its ranks of disloyal members as it had done in previous years. 6. (SBU) The Philippine National Deputy Security Adviser's comments closely followed Department of Foreign Affairs comments, heavily emphasizing the role of the National People's Army in the killings. However, he noted that to the extent the Philippine military was involved, it was "rogue elements" within it, as the Melo Commission had concluded. The Task Force Using Deputy Director provided Luse a detailed briefing of its ongoing investigations into extrajudicial killings. The Deputy Director underscored that Task Force Usig's systematic evaluation of all the cases conveyed that many of the killings claimed by human rights organizations were not politically motivated, but the result of personal squabbles, armed conflict, escape attempts, and many other non-political reasons. Luse was grateful for the perspective he gained from the briefing and requested that the Task Force continue regularly to brief Embassy officials. The Philippine Department of Justice Prosecutor, who was recently appointed to head the Presidential Task Force Against Media Harassment, did not address extrajudicial killings in general but instead focused on the case of a journalist who has been missing since April. He alleged that members of the military could be involved, but the investigation was as yet inconclusive. 7. (U) Mr. Luse was briefed about what the U.S.

and other donors' programs in the area of rule of law to address extrajudicial killings, as well as corruption, narcotics, trafficking in persons, terrorism, and other crimes. The State Department is working to strengthen law enforcement capacity by assisting and training police and prosecutors. USAID is supporting programs to improve the efficiency of the Philippines' backlogged courts and increase access to justice. The MCC Threshold Program focuses on supporting government agencies (the Office of the Ombudsman and Bureau of Internal Revenue) that investigate and prosecute corrupt officials, tax evaders, and smugglers. The Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group's support to Philippine Defense Reform is helping build a more professional and accountable Philippine military. All are critical and integrated components of a broader U.S. foreign assistance effort that is seeking to transform the Philippines into a more democratic, prosperous and stronger sustaining partner of the United States. Mr. Luse's visit afforded excellent opportunities for substantive discussions of these challenges and opportunities in the Philippines and for U.S. bilateral assistance. 8. (U) Kenney (Edited and reading.) reformatted by Andres for ease of Keith Luse cleared this cable.