PNoy: PHL can’t just send new troops to ‘mission impossible’ in Golan Heights

President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday said the Philippines cannot just send another batch of peacekeepers to a "mission impossible" in Golan Heights.
 
In an impromptu speech on Wednesday, Aquino said the Philippine government will wait for the results of the United Nations (UN)'s probe on the Golan Heights standoff involving Filipino peacekeepers last month before deciding whether it will deploy new troops to the area.
 
"Hindi pwedeng dadalhin ang ating mga tropa sa isang sitwasyon na imposible o hindi maliwanag ang misyon," the President said during awarding ceremonies of some Filipino peacekeepers in Malacañang.
 
Aquino also once again defended the Filipino peacekeepers' decision to escape during a standoff with Syrian rebels in Golan Heights.
 
"Simpleng-simple lang naman ho ‘yon e. Kapag tayo’y ginawang hostage, ‘di lalong magiging kumplikado ang problema. At talagang limitado naman ang kakayahan natin na magpadala ng rescue force dito at ating pinanindigan ito," he said.
 
In late August, 75 Filipino peacekeepers figured in a standoff with Syrian rebels, which ended that weekend with them escaping after a seven-hour clash.
 
Armed Forces chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. later revealed that Filipino peacekeepers had to defy an order from Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha, United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) commander, to be able to escape from the militants. 
 
Singha, who Catapang wants probed, supposedly wanted the Filipino troops to lay down their firearms to ensure the safety of their Fijian counterparts, who were seized by Syrian rebels. The Fijian peacekeepers were eventually released by the rebels.
 
UN under-secretary-general for peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous, said however that no such order was given. He explained that the order to Filipino troops was simply "not to shoot."
 
Singha meanwhile told India Today that the Filipino peacekeepers "defied orders" and were "unprofessional." —KG, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more