By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press
MANILA,
Philippines (AP) -- The Philippines' top diplomat said Wednesday
that he had reversed an earlier recommendation and now backs an
international appeal for more than 300 Filipino peacekeepers to stay in
the increasingly dangerous Golan Heights for six months after the United
Nations promised to bolster their security.
Foreign
Secretary Albert del Rosario told a news conference that U.N. officials
assured him in a recent meeting in New York that they would fulfill
three conditions laid down by the Philippine government, including
providing the peacekeepers, who are mostly Filipino army troops, with
more self-defense weapons and armor.
The
Philippines has also asked the U.N. to increase the number of
peacekeepers back to 1,250 as earlier agreed after a number of countries
withdrew their contingents amid escalating hostilities. It also wants
each batch of Filipino peacekeepers to be deployed for only six months
instead of one year to allow for better assessment of security risks,
del Rosario said.
Austria announced recently
that it would remove its 377 peacekeepers from the 911-member U.N.
peacekeeping force, which also includes troops from India who deal
mostly with logistics. That left the Philippines with its 340 soldiers
as the largest single contributor.
Croatia withdrew in March for fear its troops would be targeted. Japanese forces have also withdrawn.
"We said that we don't want a situation where we're the only ones exposed," del Rosario said.
He
said the U.N. would likely get additional troops from Fiji and Ireland
and expand the current contingent back to a force of 1,250 by October.
A
recent U.N. Security Council resolution sought an additional $8 million
to improve security of and acquire more weapons for the peacekeepers,
but wanted them to have a one-year deployment. The one-year deployment,
however, is to be enforced starting in 2015, so U.N. officials could
still allow Filipinos to be replaced every six months before then, del
Rosario said.
Del Rosario asked President
Benigno Aquino III in May to withdraw the Filipino peacekeepers from
Golan due to escalating hostilities between Syrian rebels and government
troops in the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone that separates Syria from the
Israeli-occupied plateau.
His recommendation
followed two separate abductions of Filipino peacekeepers and the
wounding of another in fighting in recent months between Syrian
government and rebel forces.
U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and
other governments then appealed to the Philippines to reconsider the
planned withdrawal, warning of "maximum volatility" in Golan after a
number of countries decided to withdraw their peacekeeping forces.
"We
received many calls from the (U.N.) secretary-general and from various
other countries that our leaving would probably create a situation where
there will be maximum volatility," Del Rosario said.
After
U.N. officials agreed to the Philippine conditions, del Rosario said he
asked Aquino to allow the Filipinos to stay in the Golan for at least
six months beyond Aug. 11, when they have to be replaced by a fresh
batch. He said Aquino would likely approve the plan.
Aquino
has said the changes he was looking for included additional equipment
and enhanced security for the peacekeepers, and better rules of
engagement.
"If there is no change in the
conditions, it might be an undoable mission and our poor troops will be
in the middle of two potentially clashing forces, and they cannot defend
themselves," Aquino said.
