PH peacekeepers in Haiti return to base

From the Sun Star-Manila (Sep 26): PH peacekeepers in Haiti return to base

ONE-hundred thirty three members of the 17th Filipino peacekeeping contingent from Haiti returned in the country on Thursday.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gregorio Catapang Jr. personally welcomed his men, composed of eight officers and 125 enlisted personnel from the Philippine Navy in a simple ceremony, which was held at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.

Philippine Navy Public Affairs Office Chief Marineth Domingo said there were a total of 157 Filipino soldiers who were sent in Haiti, which suffered armed conflict for decades and a devastating earthquake in 2010 on October 29, 2013.

Domingo said the Filipino peacekeepers that were part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Haiti serves as perimeter security forces to the Force Headquarters of the UN Mission to Haiti, provide administrative and logistics clerical services to the Force Headquarters, operate military vehicles and secure key personalities.

Twenty-four Filipino soldiers remained in Haiti to train the new team of 157 Filipino peacekeepers, she said.

On September 23, the AFP deployed another 157 troops in Haiti, including nine women, from the Navy and Marines.

Navy Captain Luzviminda Camacho, the first Filipino female commander in the UN who led the members of the 17th Filipino peacekeeping contingent in Haiti, said the situation in the said region is much better that it was in Golan Heights, which put other Filipino peacekeeping forces in an uncertain condition.

Last August, 75 Filipino peacekeepers serving the UN peacekeeping points in Golan Height performed the "great escape" after Syrian rebels surrounded them and demanded their weapons.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2014/09/25/ph-peacekeepers-haiti-return-base-367532