MANILA, Philippines – Call them the history hunters. Following the April 8 (Philippine time) release of the Kissinger Cables, more than 1.7 million diplomatic records during Henry Kissinger’s tenure as US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1976, Wikileaks is set to make waves once again with the introduction of the Public Library of US Diplomacy, otherwise known as PLUS D.

PLUS D is a novel attempt at chronicling the hidden histories within US diplomacy. On the PLUS D about page, the site is called “the world’s largest searchable collection of United States confidential, or formerly confidential, diplomatic communications.”

Currently comprised of the Kissinger Cables document set and the Cablegate document set, a set of over 250,000 diplomatic cables dating from 1966 to 2010, PLUS D holds nearly two million documents related to US involvement in various geopolitcal affairs, including parts of Philippine history.

The site is not what could be called light reading. It has been pointed out, however, that some of the earlier reports do lend themselves to potential levity in hindsight. The site also lends itself to a certain ease of use, as search variables allow for users to search as generally or as specifically as one needs.

An earlier report Rappler published regarding Imelda Marcos and an impromptu “military drag show” led to questions and comments regarding a source for the Agence France-Presse report. A minute-long look at the site and a short search for Kissinger Cables documents pertaining to Imelda Marcos provided the link used as the source for the earlier article, and it was appropriately titled “PRESIDENT MARCOS BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION.”

If you’re wondering, then yes, the term “a saccharine suffusion of sycophancy” really was used in that very report.

Curious onlookers and Philippine history fiends may want to scour PLUS D for other things related to the Philippine geopolitics from an American perspective. As it stands, the resource itself may prove to have value, both as a tool for education and a means of seeing a different side to politics. – Rappler.com