Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXIII, Southeast Asia

386. Letter From the Ambassador to the Philippines (Stevenson) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Hilsman)⁰

Manila, June 8, 1963.

Dear Roger: An important new channel with the Philippine Government, and with President Macapagal in particular, has developed here over the past few months which I think you should know about.

As you are doubtless aware, two people in which the President has very great confidence and whom he sees almost daily are Rod Perez, Acting Secretary of Finance, and Ting Roxas, Director of the P.I.A. (Program Implementation Agency). We regard these two as very outstanding Filipinos, both with ability and integrity Jim Ingersoll¹ came to know them both quite intimately through various A.I.D. matters and subsequently the four of us began a series of regular Friday luncheons, which are rotated between our homes or occasionally held in some private dining room.

At these luncheon meetings we feel free to bring up and discuss any and all Philippine-American problems. I usually have a list of two or three items, current ones being war damage, Cultural Foundation, Retail Trade Bill, disruption of road traffic between Subic and Clark Field because of delay in replacing washed-out bridge, etc. Jim and I have found our two Filipino counterparts most easy to talk to and we usually see eye-to-eye on nearly every problem that comes up. Better still, they give us a high degree of cooperation and do their best to clear up or correct items which we present. Naturally, we try to show the same cooperative attitude on our side.

Since these two men are so close to the President, we know that he will hear very promptly of situations about which we would like to have him aware. In some cases, I can ask Perez to get the President’s reaction on a certain matter and he will call me back within a few hours. In other cases, he can arrange appointments with the President on short notice, which might take several days through regular channels.

While this arrangement which I have been describing is entirely unofficial and somewhat unorthodox, it seems to be working very well and the fact that these two important and busy men arrive very promptly for our luncheons and remain with us as long as there are things to discuss seems to indicate that they and possibly the President are pleased with the relationship.²

This channel is especially satisfactory from my point of view since, as you are aware, the Vice President can make very few decisions on his own responsibility and hence in the long run we have to get the President’s approval or viewpoint. I am sure that the Vice President knows about these luncheons and does not resent them, since Roxas is a very close personal friend of the Vice President as well. Also, Rod Perez was identified with the Grand Alliance, of which Pelaez was the leader, and Roxas and Perez are close friends of Senator Manglapus. In fact, they brought the Senator to a luncheon not long ago to enlist his interest in trying to work out a satisfactory solution to the Cultural Center impasse.

On the subject of communication, I learned from our luncheon yesterday that one of the reasons for Hechanova’s trip to the States later this month³ is to evaluate by personal “inspection” whether or not he would like to be the GOP Ambassador to succeed Mutuc. Perez indicated there was a strong possibility that Hechanova will get the assignment if he likes the looks of things in Washington. It is our understanding that one of the reasons Mutuc was sent to Washington was because of his Harvard background and thus the opportunity to cultivate the Kennedy Family. Presumably in the GOP view, Hechanova’s youth would tend to be a favorable factor in his developing contacts with the younger members of the Kennedy Administration.

I told Perez quite frankly that I felt that whoever was sent to the U.S. to succeed Mutuc should plan to remain for several years. He said he agreed and that Hechanova would certainly stay at least two years. Presumably, he would then wish to return to run for Senator or Governor, since he has political ambitions.

We have our fingers crossed on the war damage situation. Please have someone keep us as up to date as possible, since there is great interest here and I am asked about it by the Vice President and other officials whenever I see them.

Sincerely,

Bill

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL PHIL–US. Confidential; Official-Informal.
1. James H. Ingersoll, Director of the AID Mission in the Philippines.
2. Hilsman responded in an official–informal letter to Stevenson, June 19. He approved fully of the informal channel idea. (Department of State, Central Files, POL 1 PHIL)
3. Philippine Secretary of Commerce and Industry Rufino G. Hechanova visited the United States June 26–29 to discuss trade and economic relations. Documentation on his visit, including memoranda of conversation with Department of State officials, is ibid., POL 7 PHIL.