Office of the Historian

318. National Security Decision Memorandum 209, Washington, March 27, 1973.1 2

Washington, March 27, 1973

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20504

March 27, 1973

National Security Decision Memorandum 209

TO: The Secretary of State
The Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of Commerce
The Secretary of Agriculture
The Director of Central Intelligence

SUBJECT: U.S. Policy Toward the Philippines

The President has considered the interdepartmental response to NSSM 155 of June 30, 1972, and the views expressed by the NSC Senior Review Group in its meeting on this subject on November 30, 1972. He has approved the following as tenets of U.S. policy toward the Philippines:

  • — The United States Government will continue to deal with the Marcos Administration as the effective Government of the Philippines. Assuming that the Marcos Administration will continue to be the effective Government and given the U.S. interests in improved long-term stability in the Philippines, the U.S. Government will continue security and economic assistance to the Philippines on the basis of continued cooperation from the Marcos Administration in our pursuit of fundamental U.S. interests in the Philippines and of implementation by the Marcos Administration of measures aimed at long-term stability for the Philippines.
  • — The U.S. will not seek an extension of the Laurel-Langley Agreement beyond its expiration in 1974.
  • — We should endeavor to avoid establishment of direct linkage between U.S. military assistance and continued effective access to U.S. military bases in the Philippines. Military assistance should be provided, however, in an amount which, in conjunction with other U.S. programs including other forms of assistance, will assure the desired continued effective access to the bases. In this context military assistance should be planned and requested in the amount of $20-$25 million annually.

[signed]
Henry A. Kissinger

cc: The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs

  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–239, NSDMs, NSDM 209, Philippines. Secret. Copies were sent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs. The text of NSSM 155 is in Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, vol. XX, Southeast Asia, 1969–1972, Document 254.↩
  2. Kissinger issued NSDM 209 concerning U.S. policy toward the Philippines.↩