Department of Foreign Affairs building. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs on Sunday confirmed that the pull-out of Filipino soldiers working as United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in Liberia and Golan Heights were due to the Ebola epidemic and worsening armed conflict.
“The Philippine government was compelled to pull out its peacekeeping force from Liberia as soon as possible because of the risk factor from Ebola which has the potential of being catastrophic,” DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said in a text message to media.
“It has been established that there is a greater need for our soldiers to be in the Philippines,” he said.
The recent outbreak of Ebola started in Guinea, and has since been detected in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that as of August 20, there were 1,528 confirmed cases of Ebola, 269 of which were recorded in Liberia. The cases have resulted in 844 deaths, 222 in Liberia.
The Ebola virus disease is one of the world’s most virulent diseases with a fatality rate of up to 90 percent, WHO said. However, the recent outbreak has a better survival rate at 47 percent.
Jose added: “With regard to Golan Heights, there has been a series of incidents involving our peacekeepers which have demonstrated that they are exposed to unexpected serious risks which may worsen on the basis of current developments.”
Golan Heights, an area of separation between Syria and Israel, has been a site of armed conflict in recent years. Just recently, news reports said rockets were fired from Syria into the Israel-annexed territory.
Jose said the UN was aware that the Philippine government was “carefully assessing the evolving situation” in Golan Heights.
The Philippines have been deploying peacekeepers in Golan Heights since 2009 and in Liberia since 2004.
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