PH to end peace force in Golan Hts

From the Manila Standard Today (Sep 10): PH to end peace force in Golan Hts

The Philippines’ peace keeping mission in the Golan Heights under the United Nations will end in October this year and “after that, we will no longer rotate,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said on Tuesday.

“Our peace keepers will just finish their tour of duty,” Del Rosario said. “It will be our last contingent for Golan Heights.”

Del Rosario cited the escalating security threat in the war-torn area and said the Philippines will still ask for a review of the UN peacekeeping protocols as a result of the controversy over the escape of 40 Filipino troops, who refused to surrender to Syrian rebels and defied an order from a UN commander to lay down their arms. 

The Philippines questioned the stand down order of Indian Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singha, head of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), at the height of the standoff. The Filipinos escaped from the rebels without surrendering their arms.

The Philippines has been sending troops for peacekeeping duties in the Golan Heights since 2009. Filipino troops will also be withdrawn from Liberia, where we have been sending contingents since 2003, because of threat of Ebola virus contamination.

Del Rosario, who will meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in New York next week, said the decision of the Filipinos not to surrender was on instructions of the Philippine government.

He said under the rules of engagement, which was approved by the UN in 2011, UNDOF military personnel “may exercise their inherent right to defend themselves.”

“All peace keepers have had to contend with the threat of (Syrian rebels), not envisioned in the original mandate and parameters of the UNDOF, and quite frankly, we all have to struggle to meet the demands of this challenge,” Del Rosario said.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/09/10/ph-to-end-peace-force-in-golan-hts/