414. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to the Ambassador in the Philippines (Nufer)1
Dear Al: I have read your letter of September 21 with great interest and was glad to have your assessment of the negotiations. I believe you have correctly identified the two principal sources of the difficulty which we have encountered with the Filipinos.2 As you know, we have for some time attempted to make it clear to Defense, and everyone else concerned, that the Filipinos would undoubtedly seek revision of the 1947 Agreement in one form or another, despite Magsaysay’s repeated assurances to us through Romulo, and his personal assurance to Vice President Nixon that with the title question settled he would not attempt to renegotiate the Base Agreement. A major obstacle has, of course, been the composition of the Philippine panel which has made anything resembling a normal negotiation impossible. If there had been any intimation that Bendetsen would have to negotiate with a Congressional panel we should have seriously considered sending a Congressional representation of our own. It is largely because of the composition of the panel that we have wondered whether Magsaysay would not have to play a more active role in the negotiations than we or he might otherwise want, although I realize that this is a tactical question which you and Magsaysay must handle very carefully. We consider that it is both correct and essential to keep Magsaysay fully informed as to our position, and have been glad to hear from Mr. Bendetsen that this is being done.
The Bendetsen group left here Monday night,3 having had what I believe was a successful visit. We have sent you by cable some of the papers which resulted from his consultation and he will have copies of the others for you, as they are too lengthy to be telegraphed. Mr. Bendetsen seemed to be satisfied with the outcome of his visit and reasonably optimistic as to chances of success. He was, incidentally, most pleased with the cooperation and assistance which you and your staff have given him. I believe that the package which [Page 692] he will be able to present to the Filipinos, whether he gives it to them as a package or item by item, represents a thoroughly fair and equitable revision of our military relationship and I hope that they will be able to bring themselves to recognize it as such. I realize that they may not do so for reasons of their own, but do not believe that there is very much more which we could give them.
We have been gratified to hear from you and from others of the substantial improvement in the operation of the country team since your arrival. The directives which you mentioned are designed to be helpful to Ambassadors, but in the final analysis relations between heads of agencies inevitably depend primarily on the personalities involved. I believe it is already apparent that you will be able to handle this situation effectively and would be glad to know if at any time I can be of assistance to you. From all reports you have made a good start in the Philippines despite the fact that you arrived at a most difficult time, and I know that you will continue the good work.
With best regards,
Sincerely yours,
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.56396/10–1156. Secret; Official–Informal.↩
- In this letter, Nufer praised the “splendid” job that Bendetsen was performing in negotiating with the Philippine panel. He indicated that the chief problems affecting the course of the negotiations were the absence of a clearly defined U.S. position on several issues that arose at the outset, especially the question of criminal jurisdiction, and the difficulty of dealing with the Philippine panel due to its mixed executive and congressional representation. (Ibid., 711.56396/9–2156)↩
- October 8.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩