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MANILA, Philippines—The United Nations has finally granted the request of the Philippines to reopen the investigation into the case of a Philippine Army officer who died of cerebral malaria while serving as a military observer in Sudan two years ago.
In its report to the Department of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, the Philippine Mission to the UN in New York said the UN agreed to take a second look into the case of the late Lieutenant Colonel Renerio Batalla, one of 11 Filipino officers serving with the United Nations Mission in Sudan.
Batalla, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, died while being transported by helicopter to a UN hospital in the southern district of Rembek on October 24, 2007. His death came two weeks before he was to end his one-year tour of duty in Sudan.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. requested a reinvestigation when he met with UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Alain Le Roy in New York last week.
A UN Board of Inquiry investigation report released seven months after Battalla's death recommended a reprimand for a UN doctor for his failure to extend prompt and proper medical attention to the ailing Filipino officer.
“A review will go a long way in assuaging whatever doubts or apprehensions that have come about as a result of the tragic death of one of our own,” the defense chief was reported as having told the UN official.
Ambassaador Hilario Davide Jr., Philippine permanent representative to the UN in New York, said that Le Roy acceded to Teodoro’s request as he noted the importance the Philippine government had placed on the case.
He also acknowledged the right of the Philippines, as a troop contributing country, to request for such a review.
The Philippine mission was formally informed by the UN that it could not act on Manila’s demand to remove the doctor and bar him from serving in other peacekeeping missions as there was no evidence of gross negligence on his part and that there was no basis for disciplinary action based on existing UN rules and regulations.
But during his visit, Teodoro insisted that reopening the investigation could unearth evidence or information which may have been overlooked when the recommendation to reprimand the doctor was made.
Teodoro also suggested the possibility of devising mechanisms to ensure that cases are resolved to the satisfaction of all parties concerned, especially the families of deceased peacekeepers.
Davide said he welcomed this positive development on the Batalla case as this would allow the Philippine government and the family of the late officer to finally find closure.
“We believe this review will validate the Philippine position that there were serious lapses in how Colonel Batalla’s case was handled,” Davide said. “We hope that important lessons will be learned from this tragedy so that none of us would have to go through it again.”
Davide said the Philippines had been consistent in calling the attention of the United Nations to the Batalla case, especially in its interventions in the General Assembly and in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations since 2007.
Early this year, the Non-Aligned Movement endorsed a Philippine proposal to ensure that medical personnel assigned in mission areas are qualified to provide immediate and proper medical attention to peacekeepers and to hold them accountable if they fail to do so.
The Philippine proposal, which also expressed grave concern over the loss of human lives as a result of the negligence and incompetence of medical staff in the field, was later incorporated into the report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations during its 2009 Substantive Session.
The Philippines has maintained a presence in Sudan since 2005 when it was invited by the United Nations to contribute military and police personnel to help supervise a peace agreement between the Khartoum government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
In addition to military observers, the Philippines has 40 police officers serving in the Sudan mission, one of two UN peacekeeping operations in that country.
The Philippines also has 89 police officers serving with the United Nations-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur.
