Lesson from WikiLeaks: Don't talk to embassy officials

"The bottom line is don’t talk to them." This, said Senator Joker Arroyo, is the lesson that should be learned from the recent batch of US diplomatic cables posted online by whistleblower WikiLeaks. He issued the statement after some the recent batch of diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks showed that then-US Ambassador to Manila Kristie Kenney was sending reports to the US State Department about her conversations with certain Philippine officials. "That’s the whole problem with our officials, they are eager to talk with embassy officials, look at what happened. Henceforth, I think Philippine officials should be wary of talking to them," Arroyo said in a press conference at the Senate. A typical practice of US embassy officials is to "pick the brains" of officials of their host country and report back to their superiors in Washington, the senator explained. "You don’t know who among are really diplomats, some of them are connected with the CIA," Arroyo claimed. "Moral lesson: Don’t accept invitations unless it’s official. The Philippines is not the only country that is the victim of this… but all over the world. But we have given this too much importance because media also keeps on reporting it," he added. 'Strategic' US interest While saying that the uploaded diplomatic cables "do not amount to anything until validated," Arroyo noted reports saying the US supposedly backed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) show how America's interest in the Philippines was "strategic." "They are interested in Mindanao because it is possible that they would want military facilities there. The US Military bases to be based there," he said. "The release of these ‘WikiLeaks’ should not be taken as it damages us. It gives us a lesson on how the US government thinks, how they can be trusted, how they back bite," he added. Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, however, said the public should not immediately dismiss the WikiLeaks expose because they reveal information that was not readily available in the past. On Monday, she even called on the Senate blue ribbon and electoral reforms committees to investigate the US Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks which states that former President Fidel Ramos allegedly received $200,000 (equivalent to P5 million during that time) from ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi when he and former House Speaker Jose de Venecia visited Tripoli in 1992. — VS, GMA News