Palace stands by courage of PH peacekeepers

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.: We stand by the courage and skill of our troops INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Malacañang on Thursday defended the decision of Filipino peacekeepers on the Golan Heights to defend themselves against attacking Syrian rebels after the United Nations peacekeeping chief denied that the soldiers had been ordered to surrender their weapons to the Islamic militants.

“We are not contradicting what they (Filipino troops) said. Of course, we are standing by the courage and skill of our troops [on] the Golan Heights,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. told reporters on Thursday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang told a news conference on Monday that the 40 Filipino peacekeepers manning UN Position 68 on the Golan Heights defended themselves last weekend in defiance of an order from the UN Disengagement Observer Force (Undof) commander to surrender their weapons, a move that would be highly controversial in the six-nation, blue-helmeted force.

Catapang said that at one point, the Undof commander ordered the Filipino soldiers to surrender their weapons to prevent harm from befalling 45 Fijian peacekeepers who had surrendered their firearms and were seized by the rebels from the al-Qaida-linked Nustra Front.

Don’t shoot order

On Wednesday UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous denied that any such order was given.

Asked by Reuters at the United Nations what order was given to the Filipinos, Ladsous replied, “Never to hand over weapons.”

The order was simply “not to shoot,” Ladsous said.

He said no force commander would order his troops to hand over weapons to rebels.

If that were to happen, he said, the commander would “be out of a job,” as countries that supply weapons and materiel to the Undof would be reluctant to resupply the mission.

In a post on the UN News Center website, Ladsous defended and commended the Undof commander, Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha of India.

“The situation on the ground is a fluid one and the decision was to launch the Quick Reaction Force to extract the peacekeepers. General Singha exercised good, solid judgment [throughout] the process,” Ladsous said.

On the same day, Catapang told reporters that during his monitoring of the crisis he demanded that Singha put his order to the Filipino peacekeepers to surrender in writing precisely because he knew that it could later be denied.

Catapang said there was no assurance that the Filipino peacekeepers, who were trapped in their encampment, would not end up as hostages like the Fijian peacekeepers.

The United Nations is negotiating the release of the Fijian peacekeepers through known supporters of the rebels who are fighting the government of President Bashar Assad of Syria.

‘Blow by blow’ account

Catapang said he had submitted a “blow by blow” report on the standoff to the President, including an account of Capt. Nilo Ramones, the leader of the Filipino troops at Position 68, but Coloma said he had yet to check if the President had received the report.

He added that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was also coordinating with the United Nations “as this is a UN matter.”

“It is (still) important to know the whole situation … We want to complete our tour of duty and wind down our UN commitment in the proper way,” Coloma said.

Catapang said Singha’s order compromised the safety of the Filipino peacekeepers and that Singha’s Filipino chief of staff, Col. Ezra Enriquez, defied the order after consulting with defense and military officials in Manila.

Enriquez later resigned and filed a leave of absence. Singha rejected Enriquez’s resignation because he did not have authority to accept it, but approved his leave, which is effective up to the end of the Philippine contingent’s tour of duty in October.

Singha also denied that he ordered the Filipinos to surrender their weapons and said their leaving their post was an act of cowardice and was unacceptable.

Who’s the coward?

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, spokesman for the AFP, on Thursday countered that the Philippine troops’ mission was to separate Israel and Syria in the ceasefire line and to keep the peace.

“It was never our mission to do offensive operations but what is part of our mandate also under both the United Nations and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Republic of the Philippines, is the ability to defend ourselves, and what we did there was we defended ourselves from attack after a seven-hour fire fight with Syrian rebels,” Zagala said.

Zagala said that instead of bringing his troops to safety, Singha even allowed the fire fight at Position 68 to last seven hours when he could have repositioned them earlier together with the other Filipino peacekeepers at Position 69.

“But he did not. He left us there. [We were running low on ammunition] and he told us that if we were attacked again, for us to lay down our arms and raise the white flag. Now [which is cowardly], his orders or [our taking] the best option to save Filipino soldiers’ lives?” Zagala said.

He said the AFP was not bothered by Singha’s denial because “we have all the records, all the reports needed to support the actions of our troops [on] the Golan Heights.”

He added: “We will make all these reports and manuscripts available to the Department of National Defense, Department of Foreign Affairs, and they will coordinate with the United Nations on what actions should be taken.”

Unacceptable order

Catapang, in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province on Thursday to distribute M4 rifles to troops from the 56th and 79th Infantry Battalions of the Philippine Army, refused to give anymore statement to rebut Singha.

It appeared that his report on the standoff had not yet left his office, as he said: “We will just submit [a] report and it’s up to higher headquarters to decide. We don’t want this to be a blame game.”

“Our problem is over and I think it’s now up to the Department of Foreign Affairs to answer all the queries that’s why we will also copy furnish the DFA,” he added.

Catapang said that he maintains in his report to President Aquino and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin that all of Singha’s orders were relayed by Enriquez to Manila.

“We would not have made an appropriate decision if there was no order,” he said, referring to Singha’s unacceptable order and the Filipino peacekeepers’ decision not to surrender their weapons and defend themselves.

The controversy underlines a rise in tensions in the UN peacekeeping force following weekend skirmishes with Islamist militants in the Israeli-controlled territory on Syria’s southeastern border.

Islamist fighters battling the Syrian army last Wednesday overran the Quneitra crossing in the line that has separated Israelis from Syrians on the Golan Heights since a 1973 war, the most recent escalation of Syria’s civil war, now in its fourth year.

The rebels then turned against UN peacekeepers who have patrolled the ceasefire line since 1974.

After capturing the 45 Fijian peacekeepers who manned Position 27, the rebels laid siege on Position 68, manned by 40 Filipino peacekeepers led by Ramones, and Position 69, held by 35 Filipino troops, and demanded that the Blue Helmets surrender their weapons.

The Filipinos at both encampments refused, sparking a standoff.

The rebels attacked Position 69 at midnight last Friday (5 a.m. Saturday in Manila). The Filipinos fought back and with help from Syrian troops and Irish and other Filipino peacekeepers fled to the Israeli side of the ceasefire line.

At Position 68, the rebels attacked after noon, meeting stiff resistance from the Filipinos.

Ramones and his troops fought for seven hours, aided by Syrian artillery support fire that kept them from getting overwhelmed.

At midnight (about 5 a.m. Sunday in Manila), as the rebels sought refuge from the chilly winds in houses on the plateau, the Filipinos slipped out of their encampment with their weapons and walked more than 2 kilometers to the Israeli side of the ceasefire line.

Repositioned

All the Filipino peacekeepers have been repositioned in Camp Ziouani, near the gate to the Israeli side of the ceasefire line.

Coloma said the 346 Filipino peacekeepers would remain on the Golan Heights until the end of their tour of duty in October.

Before the crisis, President Aquino had ordered the withdrawal of Filipino peacekeepers from the Golan Heights due to the volatile security situation on the plateau caused by Syria’s worsening civil war.

The peacekeepers’ vehicles had been caught in cross-fires and some of the soldiers had been injured.

Last year, Syrian rebels abducted Filipino peacekeepers on a logistical run in two separate incidents.

The Filipinos were all released unharmed.

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