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MANILA, Philippines—The United Nations has awarded medals to 165 Filipino peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (Unmil) in recognition of their significant contribution to the country’s recovery and stabilization, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations in New York reported on Wednesday.
The peacekeepers, who belong to the 10th Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent under Colonel Danilo Pamonag, received the medals from Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, deputy special representative of the Secretary General for Rule of Law, during ceremonies in Monrovia on Monday.
Also present in the ceremony were Unmil Force Commander, Lieutenant General ATM Zahirul Alam; Sector Commanders Brigadier General Ezekiel Olu-Olofinmuagan and Brigadier General Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar; and other senior military and civilian officials.
In her speech, Mensa-Bonsu commended the Filipino peacekeepers for their significant contributions to Liberia’s recovery efforts and urged them to uphold their duty to care for the Liberian people.
“You have been instrumental in improving security systems within the Unmil compounds and in formulating standard operating procedures to ensure the highest quality of security,” Mensa-Bonsu said.
“I salute your country, which you represent with utmost credit,” she said, particularly citing Pamonag for his “excellent leadership.”
In his speech, Pamonag described the Filipino peacekeepers as “ever-smiling, silent professionals, who tirelessly work on the sidelines to get things done.”
He said the Unmil experience taught the members of the Philippine contingent the true meaning of peacekeeping.
The Philippine contingent was first deployed to Monrovia in 2003 to serve as the Force Headquarters Support Unit. It is in charge of providing area, point and security patrols at the Unmil Headquarters as well as motor transport coordination and administrative, operational and logistical support.
Other UN mission areas where Filipino peacekeepers are deployed are Afghanistan, Cote d’ Ivoire, Darfur, Georgia, Haiti, Kosovo, Sudan and Timor-Leste.
