Office of the Historian

427. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to the Secretary of State1

Washington, April 24, 1957.

SUBJECT

  • Authorization to Conclude Individual Agreements Regarding U.S. Bases in the Philippines—Circular 175 Authority2

In the course of the bases negotiations with the Philippines last fall you authorized the conclusion and signing of a “package deal” consisting of a basic agreement with eleven annexes and sixteen appendices [Page 721] together with several subsidiary agreements. As the negotiations broke down this authority has not, as yet, been exercised. Since the breakdown, efforts have been made to reach agreement with the Philippines on a piecemeal, rather than on an over-all, basis.

As a result of recent efforts it appears that agreement may be reached on a series of problems such as the Port of Manila, the town of Olongapo, Philippine liaison officers, establishment of a Mutual Defense Board and mining rights. The solutions envisaged in respect of these problems will differ somewhat from those originally proposed in the “package agreement”. It is not contemplated that these changes, in the great majority of cases, will depart from the basic concepts of the “package agreement” insofar as the interests of the United States Government are concerned. Instead, the changes will represent primarily accommodations made by the Department of Defense in order to reflect specific Philippine requests or changes in Defense requirements. The use of the Circular 175 procedure with respect to each individual agreement (possibly totalling as many as 20) would appear, in these circumstances, a waste of time and manpower.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the Assistant Secretary for Far Eastern Affairs be authorized to approve the conclusion and signature of individual agreements relating to the solution of problems respecting U.S. military bases in the Philippines to the extent such agreements do not represent a departure from established policy or contain departures of significance to the Department of State from the previously approved “package agreement” provided that such agreements are concurred in by the Department of Defense, the Office of the Legal Adviser and any other interested bureau or office of the Department.3

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 711.56396/4–2457. Secret. Drafted by Richard D. Kearney, Assistant Legal Adviser for Far Eastern Affairs, and concurred in in draft by L and L/T and by Mein, Brand, Jones, Murphy, and Reinhardt.↩
  2. Not further identified.↩
  3. Secretary Dulles initialed his approval of the recommendation.↩