Pinoy UN peacekeepers get medals

ON THE International Day of UN Peacekeepers, 48 Filipino soldiers and policemen were recognized for their contributions to United Nations peacekeeping missions the past year.

The Department of National Defense awarded medals for heroism and commitment to duty to the peacekeepers who had served in the Golan Heights, India, Pakistan and Haiti.

Natalio Ecarma III, undersecretary for defense operations, said this year’s commemoration was in memory of those who died on UN missions and to honor those who served away from home.

“Our simple activities give due recognition to the heroism of our peacekeepers, provide a glimpse into what they had achieved in the past, and bring inspiration as we look forward to greater commitment to the UN peacekeeping missions,” Ecarma said on Monday.

May 29 is designated as International Day of UN Peacekeepers but the commemoration was held the following day Monday.

Of the 48 awardees, 30 were military personnel, 17 were policemen and one was an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Praveen Agrawal, ad interim UN resident coordinator in the Philippines, lauded the Filipino peacekeepers as “modern day heroes that we are honoring today.”

“The Philippines is one of the UN’s most reliable partners in helping to keep the peace in many places in the world,” he said.

The highest award, the Dag Hammarskjold Medal in the Service of Peace, was given posthumously to the late Capt. Aurelio Kigis.

A member of the Philippine contingent to the UN Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights, Kigis drowned on July 9, 2014, in Israeli waters.

Jesus Domingo, secretary general of the DFA’s National Council for UN Peace Operations (Ncunpo), was a recipient of the Gawad Diosdado Macapagal, along four military officers Col. Napoleon de Vera, Capt. Aldrin Doctor, Cdr. Leo Dimoc and Lt. Col. Joel Benedict Batara and police officers Director Noel Lazarus Vargas and Senior Supt. Leo Marzan.

The Ncunpo Service Award was given to 25 military personnel and 15 policemen for their contributions to administrative work while on peacekeeping duties.

Defense Undersecretary Honorio Azcueta said the Philippines will be hosting two peacekeeping events this year—the Association of Asia Pacific Peacekeeping Training Centers in June and the Asean Peacekeeping Center’s Network Meeting in October.

The Philippines sent its first peacekeeping contingent to the Republic of Congo in 1963. At present, there are 175 Filipino soldiers and policemen deployed to four UN peacekeeping missions.

These are the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah), UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (Unmogip), UN Operation Cote d’Ivoire (Unoci) and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (Unsom).