Undof commander Singha’s order of surrender unacceptable, AFP Chief says

Philippine military chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang shows reporters where Filipino peacekeepers in Golan Heights have been repositioned during a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in suburban Quezon city. AP

MANILA, Philippines—With the death-defying “greatest escape” complete, the top brass of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Tuesday that Filipinos surrendering to Syrian rebels was “unacceptable.”

General Gregorio Pio Catapang said the order of Lieutenant General Iqbal Singh Singha, the Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (Undof) was just preposterous.

“That was unacceptable because Gen. Singha should not make the soldiers as sacrificial pawns in order for the Fijians allegedly to be freed by the rebels,” Catapang said.

Singha ordered the Filipino Peacekeepers stationed in Positions 68 and 69 to drop their arms hoping the Syrian rebels would free the 400-plus Fijians.

Defying the orders of Singha and going with the plan from the AFP General Headquarters transitioned to them through Colonel Ezra Enriquez, the Filipino Peacekeepers stood their ground and engaged the rebels in a seven-hour firefight.

Despite the “greatest escape,” a positive Catapang said the AFP would still be a contributing force for the United Nations, but not as part of Undof.

Catapang said they would like to be part of the United Nations Standby Arrangements System, a system that the UN still discusses.

He likened their situation to a boxing referee who was at peace with the boxers, Syria and Israel, but then came another character, the rebels, who took the fight to them.

And with the resignation of Enriquez, the Chief of Staff of Singha in Undof, Catapang said it would not mar their relationship with the UN and the AFP would continue its deployment.

RELATED STORIES

What PH peacekeepers can look forward to when they come home

After ‘great escape’ in Syria, PH commander escapes from Undof chief

Filipino peacekeepers pull off ‘greatest escape’ from Syrian rebels