President Aquino receives delegates of the Asian
Peace and Reconciliation Council in Malacanang
The delegation of the Asian Peace and
Reconciliation Council (APRC) paid a courtesy call on President Benigno S.
Aquino III at the Malacanan Palace on Friday.
The delegation is composed of Dr. Surakiart
Sathirathai, APRC chairman and former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister of Thailand; Mr. Shaukat Aziz, vice-chairman of APRC and former Prime
Minister of Pakistan; Ambassador Virasakdi Futrakul, Secretary General of the
APRC and former Permanent Secretary of Foreign Affairs Ministry, Thailand; Mr.
Weerasak Kowsurat, Former Minister of Tourism and Sports, Thailand; and Isidro
Camacho, vice chairman of Credit Suisse Asia Pacific and former Philippine
Secretary of Finance.
Joining President Aquino in the meeting were
Secretary Albert Del Rosario of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles, and Assistant
Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro of DFA’s Asia and Pacific Affairs.
The APRC, founded in Bangkok in September 2012,
is an independent, international and non-government organization intended to
help governments and societies in Asia to identify peaceful means of resolving
conflicts and reconciling differences. PND (co)
Aquino agrees for continued deployment of
Filipino peacekeepers in Golan Heights until August
President Benigno S. Aquino III has agreed to
continue with the deployment of Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights
until August 11, a Palace official said on Friday.
In a press briefing in Malacanang, Presidential
spokesman Edwin Lacierda said an assessment team has made a recommendation to
the President for the stay of the peacekeepers in the Golan Heights at that
particular duration but after that a rotational process will be determined.
“Subject to meeting considerations which the
Philippines has made to enhance the security and safety of our peacekeepers,
the President has expressed that the Philippines is prepared to continue its
UNDOF participation,” Lacierda said quoting a statement from Foreign Affairs
Secretary Albert del Rosario.
The President wants more enhanced security and
safety for Filipino peacekeepers serving in the Golan Heights, Lacierda said
adding that the Philippine government is currently coordinating with the United
Nations to meet the requirements on their safety and security.
“Meron tayong hinihingi, may considerations tayo
with the United Nations. We are presently coordinating with them and what is
very clear that we are committed to stay until August 11 and then, pag-uusapan.
Continuous ang pag-uusap ngayon with the United Nations,” Lacierda said.
Asked if the Philippine government will pull out
the peacekeepers if the safety requirements are not met, Lacierda said the
Palace will leave the issue with the Department of Foreign Affairs.
United Nations appealed to the Philippine
government not to remove its troops from the Golan Heights.
The recommendation only applies to peacekeepers
deployed in Golan Heights and not to those serving in other areas, Lacierda
clarified.
The President said previously that while the
Philippines stands ready to maintain peace in volatile areas in the world, the
government would also want to ensure the safety of Filipino troops serving in
those locations.
The Philippine government has asked for the
modification of the rules of engagement as well as an increase in the necessary
equipment needed by the peacekeepers to ensure their safety and security.
Only Filipino and Indian peacekeepers remain in
the Golan Heights to keep the peace in the area. Contingents from Austria,
Croatia and Japan have already pulled out because of the growing tensions
there.
Concerns for the safety of the peacekeepers have
grown in recent months with the kidnapping of 21 Filipino peacekeepers by
Syrian rebels in March. Another kidnapping incident happened in May with the
abduction of four Filipino peacekeepers. PND (as)
Govt to continue pursuing Marcoses ill-gotten
wealth, Palace says
Malacanang said on Friday that the Philippine
government has not wavered in going after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses
and the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) will continue to do
its mandate.
There were reported new developments in the
pursuit of Marcos wealth in Australia following a report by an Australian
newspaper about a former model in the 70s who became a sole beneficiary of
Marcos’s secret accounts.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the
PCGG has not stopped its recovery work, adhering to its mandate to recover the
ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses.
Although the PCGG does not receive much media
attention sometimes, it does not necessarily mean that there’s a lull in its
works, Lacierda said.
“What they would like to emphasize is that the
recovery work continues,” he said.
There is also no update on the planned abolition
of the commission, he said. But regardless of whatever plans the government has
in mind for the PCGG, its work must continue, he said.
Two years ago, the PCGG said it would look into
the reported ill-gotten wealth of the late president in Australia believed to
be under the name of a former swimsuit model.
The former president reportedly had an affair
with a certain Evelin Hegyesi, a swimsuit model in her younger days in the 70s.
Hegyesi, who is now more than 40 years old is said to have borne Marcos a
child.
Marcos, who ruled the Philippines for more than
20 years with an iron fist, was known to have affairs with actresses and fashion
models.
The late president Corazon Aquino, the
President’s mother, established the PCGG immediately after she assumed the
presidency following the ouster of Marcos through People Power in 1986.
The commission’s mandate is to recover the
dictator’s alleged ill-gotten wealth estimated to reach some $10 billion. PND
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