406. Memorandum for the Files, by the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Murphy)1
I discussed with the Secretary the question of the flying of the Philippine flag in addition to the American flag at the U.S. bases at Clark Field and Subic Bay, the Philippines, in connection with the current negotiations at Manila. I explained that Mr. Walter Robertson is meeting with officials at the Pentagon for a telecon at 7:00 P.M. this evening. I explained also the conversation I had with Under Secretary Reuben Robertson and Admiral Radford last week after their conversation with the President2 who had favored the flying of [Page 679] the Philippine flag as a symbol of their residual sovereignty but indicated that the matter should be taken up with the State Department, especially as it related to its effect in other areas where the U.S. has bases. I explained also that Admiral Radford had made a special point regarding Panama and indicated that the President had perhaps thought that the Panamanians would demand that the Panama flag be flown inside the Panama Canal Zone if they learned that we had agreed to flying the Philippine flag at our bases in the Philippines. I suggested to the Secretary that the two situations are not comparable due to the special situation we occupy in Panama. The Secretary agreed. He wondered what effect this might have on our situation in Okinawa. After consideration he thought the position in Okinawa differed substantially from the position in the Philippines.
Accordingly, I informed Mr. Walter Robertson, who was then at the Pentagon, that we could authorize our negotiators at Manila to include the flag question as part of the “package” arrangement in a manner which would be best suited to U.S. advantage without relation to the flag question in other areas.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.56396/8–2756. Secret.↩
- See Document 402.↩