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MANILA, Philippines?Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo on Friday extolled Filipino troops serving as peacekeepers under the United Nations in the Golan Heights for keeping the peace in the Middle East.
?I congratulate the men and women of the 1st Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent in the Golan for effectively shouldering our responsibility as a member of the family of nations in helping keep the peace in this part of the world. You all have made us proud,? Romulo said during the medal parade ceremonies for Filipino peacekeepers serving with the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in Camp Faouar in Syria.
Romulo led dignitaries that included the UNDOF head of mission and force commander, Maj. Gen. Natalio C. Ecarma III, and Philippine Ambassador to Damascus Wilfredo Cuyugan in pinning UN service medals on the 342 Filipino peacekeepers under Army Col. Milfredo Melegrito.
?We hope that the presence in the Golan of Filipino peacekeepers would contribute to the quest for peace in this part of the Middle East,? Romulo said. ?We Filipinos are friends to all and it is my hope that the excellent relationship that the Philippines has nurtured over the years with the countries of the region would help make your job here in UNDOF easier.?
In his speech, released by the DFA on Saturday, Romulo paid tribute to Ecarma, former deputy commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps, who formally assumed command of UNDOF on March 1, replacing Austrian Maj. Gen. Wolfgang Jilke.
Romulo said that Ecarma made history by becoming the first Filipino to be appointed head of a UN peacekeeping mission and the second to be named commander of a UN peacekeeping force.
?His appointment is indeed a great honor for the Philippines and the Filipino people and a clear proof that Philippine participation in peacekeeping operations has gone a long way,? the secretary said.
The visit to the Golan of Romulo, who is also the chair of the Inter-Agency Council on UN Peacekeeping Operations, was the first by a Filipino foreign secretary to a peacekeeping mission area and came five months after the Philippines first deployed troops to support UNDOF.
Considered one of the longest-running UN peacekeeping missions, UNDOF was established by the Security Council in 1974 to end the Yom Kippur or Arab-Israeli War and is mandated to supervise the ceasefire between Israel and Syria; oversee the disengagement of their forces; and monitor the so-called areas of separation and limitation between the two countries.
At present, UNDOF is made up of 1,042 troops from the Philippines, Austria, Canada, Croatia, India, Japan and Poland.
?UNDOF can be considered a success story by virtue of the fact that its 35 years of existence has been marked by relative peace and stability. No incident has shattered the calm here in the Golan and we do hope it remains the same,? Romulo said.
In addition to UNDOF, the foreign secretary said Filipino peacekeepers are also serving in Afghanistan, Cote d? Ivoire, Darfur, Haiti, Kashmir, Liberia, Sudan and Timor-Leste. Filipino peacekeepers previously served in Iraq, Burundi, Georgia, Kosovo and Nepal.
With a total of 1,062 Filipino military and police personnel deployed overseas as of the end of January, the Philippines emerged as the UN?s 24th largest troop contributor. This figure represents a 40 percent jump in the number of peacekeepers serving overseas compared to the total Philippine peacekeeping deployments during the previous year.
Romulo likewise paid tribute to the three Filipino peacekeepers who perished during the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that leveled the UN headquarters in Port-au-Prince early this year.
He said the three members of the 10th Philippine Peacekeeping Contingent serving with the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti had given up their lives in the cause of peace.
?Indeed, there is no greater sacrifice than for a man to lay down his life for his fellowmen. They will always be remembered,? he added.
