Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has defended the Filipino peacekeepers in Golan Heights that held off Syrian rebels and pulled the “greatest escape” Monday at Camp Aguinaldo.
Gazmin said that the Filipino United Nations Peacekeepers who followed the orders of Colonel Ezra Enriquez were forced to defend themselves and return fire when the rebels attacked.
“We did our job,” Gazmin said while speaking to reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.
Enriquez, who was receiving orders from the Armed Forces of the Philippines General Headquarters, instructed the Filipino Peacekeepers to escape after a seven-hour firefight against the Syrian rebels.
Lieutenant General Iqbal Singh Singha, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone (Undof) Commander, allegedly ordered Filipinos to lay down their arms for the safe return of the captured Fijian rebels.
On Thursday, Singha denied he ordered the Filipinos to surrender, branding the “greatest escape” an “act of cowardice.”
Gazmin, however, said that the retaliation from the Filipinos was acceptable as they were the ones being attacked.
“In the rules of engagement, you are authorized to fire back when you are fired upon,” Gazmin said. “That’s what our soldiers did.”
Gazmin added that it would be dangerous for the Filipinos to stay in the area as they were running out of ammunition.
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