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MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines and the United Nations (UN) forged a memorandum of agreement (MoA) that will place on standby the country's military personnel and equipment for the world body's peace keeping missions.
The MoA on Contributions to the UN Standby Arrangement System was signed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo in Malacañang on Wednesday evening.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo witnessed the signing, held before a state dinner she hosted in Ban's honor.
Under the agreement, the Philippines will "make available specified resources that could be made available for UN peacekeeping operations within the agreed response time."
"The commitment could be in the form of military formation, specialized personnel, services, as well as materiel and equipment," the MoA read.
The MoA "formalized" the commitment of the Philippines to UN-sponsored peacekeeping operations, according to a Malacañang statement released Thursday.
"We are very proud of the signing of the agreement earlier, for a standby agreement with our peacekeeping forces," Arroyo said in a speech before the state dinner.
The Philippines has 621 peacekeepers in UN missions in Afghanistan, Haiti, Kosovo, Liberia, Sudan, Timor Leste, Koltival, and Darfur.
