Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Asia and the Pacific, Volume VI, Part 2

796.5/3–2951

Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rusk) to the Secretary of State

confidential

[Washington,] March 29, 1951.

Problem:

To expedite decision by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on partial American military subsidy of Philippine military expenditures.

Discussion:

President Quirino has requested a $50 million budgetary grant to the Philippines to be used to pay for expenses of Philippine armed forces. General Hobbs, Commanding General of JUSMAG, supports this request as a one-time operation in an amount not to exceed $50 million to be made available to him for disbursement in consultation with Ambassador Cowen and in such amounts as they deem necessary to assure that the Philippine troops are paid and properly maintained. General Hobbs believes the amount actually necessary may fall considerably short of the actual request. He believes this grant should be made for use until the impact of the ECA program and implementation of reform legislation now being passed enables the Philippine Government to bear Armed Services’ expenses without harmful effects to the economy. I agree that this request should be granted at once.

Some days ago I discussed the matter with General Marshall, who agreed in principle. The Department of Defense finds it has $10 million which could be made available for the balance of the current fiscal year. The matter is now before the Joint Chiefs of Staff for their views. I understand that their report will probably be favorable but that it may not be forthcoming for another three weeks or possibly one month because of the priority which has been assigned to the project.

When General Romulo returned to the United States last January, President Quirino designated him as the head of a military mission to secure this aid. President Quirino is now becoming restless at the lapse of time and considers that Romulo has failed. He, therefore, wishes him to return to Manila at once. It is our view that he should return early in April because his political position in the Philippines is becoming progressively and seriously weakened in his absence. The interests of the United States require that his position be strengthened and remain so because he is a sincere friend of the United States and because he is one of the few leading Filipino politicians who has important influence over Quirino. Unless Romulo can take something back with him, his political position will really be in serious jeopardy. It is our view that he should take back the military budgetary aid with him in order to reestablish his position and that he should be able to do so before the end of the first week in April. Given the complete unpredictability of Quirino’s moods and the really serious domestic pressure he is under, due to an alarming step-up in Huk activities, he is quite capable in his frustration of taking some unfortunate step which would seriously affect Philippine-American relations unless he gets some early and tangible evidence of American support.

Recommendation:

In the light of the foregoing, it is recommended that you call Secretary Marshall and request him to ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff to report on the Philippine military proposal next week.¹

1. A marginal notation on the source text reads: “Mr. [H. Freeman] Matthews [Deputy Under Secretary of State] has expressed his concurrence, ‘with reluctance’, on the basis of the first two paragraphs. A[aron] S. B[rown, Special Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary]”.

   In a memorandum of April 6, to Mr. Rusk, Francis E. Meloy, Assistant to the Director of the Executive Secretariat, stated that the Secretary had said he had shown General Marshall the memorandum and that the latter had not indicated his reaction. (796.5/3–2951)

   In his memorandum of a conversation held with Secretary Marshall, April 13, Mr. Rusk wrote: “I raised with General Marshall our deep concern over the disapproval by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of certain budgetary aid to Philippine armed forces. General Marshall had not yet been apprised of this action. I strongly urged that he reopen the matter and that, as a minimum, he attempt to arrange to proceed with the allocation of funds on the order of $10,000,000 for the present fiscal year while we discuss further the action we should take during 1952 fiscal year. General Marshall said that he would look into the matter right away.” (796.5/4–1351)

   Documentation revealing the timing of, and the reasons for, the JCS decision just mentioned has not been found in Department of State files.