UN chief hails Filipino peacekeepers

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. AP FILE PHOTO

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has commended Philippine peacekeepers for staying put in the Golan Heights despite two incidents of abduction, where Filipino troops were taken earlier this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Saturday.

In a statement, the DFA said Ban “profusely thanked” the Philippine government through Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario for deciding to retain its force of 340 peacekeepers in the volatile ceasefire zone between Israel and Syria.

The DFA said Ban extended his gratitude to Del Rosario during his meeting with foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in New York on Sept. 26.

Ban “publicly commended the Philippine government for maintaining Filipino peacekeepers in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights despite the two kidnapping incidents in March and May this year,” the DFA said.

The UN chief praised the Filipino peacekeepers for being “extremely courageous” in carrying out an outstanding task, the DFA said.

After the second kidnapping incident in May, Del Rosario proposed to President Aquino the withdrawal of Filipino peacekeepers from the conflict-stricken transit zone by the end of the troop rotation schedule on Aug. 11 due to concerns over the safety of the Philippine contingent.

Peacekeepers seized

Twenty five Filipinos were abducted in separate incidents during the summer while one was wounded amid fighting between Syrian rebel and government forces on June 6.

But President Aquino decided to maintain the country’s peacekeeping force in the area, following appeals from the UN, the United States and other countries.

The UN also heeded the Philippines’ request for improved security for UNDOF, including the provision of more armored equipment, raising the force to the regular strength of 1,250 through encouraging other nations to send peacekeepers and a six-month rotation cycle for the Philippine contingent.

The world body had asked the Philippines to rethink its withdrawal plan, as this would likely “create a situation where there would be maximum volatility,” Del Rosario said earlier.

UN General Assembly

Del Rosario is in New York for the UN General Assembly. He will address the world body tomorrow to discuss the Philippines’ efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The MDGs are global development goals on health, education, poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental sustainability that nations must achieve by 2015.

“His statement will share the Philippine experience on lessons learned in achieving the eight MDGs and the Philippines’ proposals on how the post-2015 development agenda should look.  His statement will also highlight critical issues that are important to the Philippines, such as migration, peace and security, and disaster risk reduction,” the foreign office said in an earlier statement.

The UN General Assembly, an annual diplomatic event that gathers world leaders in one hall, opened on Tuesday, providing member nations opportunity for high-level discussions on critical world issues, including the Syrian conflict, Iran-US tensions, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, nuclear disarmament and the MDGs.

This year’s general assembly is themed around “The Post-2015 Development Agenda: Setting the Stage,” laying the groundwork for plans of member countries for the years following the MDG deadline.

Some progress

A report recently released by the UN Development Program, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the Asian Development Bank found the Philippines an “early achiever” in gender equality and women empowerment, and noted some progress in implementing programs for the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases.

The report, however, found the Philippines lagging in achieving the other goals, particularly poverty reduction and improving access to basic education.