Philippines, 1997

I am pleased to extend to

you, Sir, on behalf of my delegation, our most sincere

felicitations on your election to the presidency of the

fifty-second session of the United Nations General

Assembly.

8

We also wish to congratulate His Excellency Tan Sri

Razali Ismail, our colleague in the Assembly and our

partner in the Association of South-East Asian Nations

(ASEAN), for his strong leadership as the President of the

fifty-first session.

We take great pleasure in congratulating His

Excellency Secretary-General Kofi Annan. We commit

ourselves to working with him for the improvement of our

Organization.

Next year the Philippines will commemorate the

centenary of its proclamation of independence. Next year

also the Philippines is scheduled to conduct the most sacred

exercise that democracy requires: electing national leaders

through the popular will. As we mark our first century as

the first Republic to arise in Asia, and as we prepare to

choose those who will lead our country into the twenty-first

century, we reflect on what we have achieved as a country

and as a member of our community of nations. Today

peace reigns in my country. Where there was strife, there

is now national reconciliation. Where there was violent

rebellion, there is now progress and hope.

Last year, with the wisdom and guidance of the

Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), in particular

the OIC’s Committee of Six, under the enlightened

leadership of Indonesia and with the active support of

Libya, the Philippine Government and the Moro National

Liberation Front (MNLF) concluded a historic agreement

that brought peace to Mindanao after more than a quarter

century of open secessionist rebellion. The leader of the

MNLF is now the elected Governor of the Autonomous

Region of Muslim Mindanao and Chairman of the Southern

Philippines Council for Peace and Development. MNLF

fighters are now being integrated into the armed forces of

the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.

Indeed, there is much for us to celebrate as a nation

and as a Republic. And this gives us even greater reason to

reflect on the world and to ask ourselves fundamental

questions about its present state and its emerging future.

One such question that comes to mind is this: Is our

world a safer place? The end of the cold war has in a sense

made it so. But is the world safe enough when we continue

to live under the threat posed by weapons of mass

destruction? Fortunately, the conclusion of the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty last year and the

ongoing review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons give us some added security.

We must not stop here. Let us pursue negotiations

on the complete and total elimination of nuclear weapons

by a certain time. This call is already supported by the

International Court of Justice, which last year recognized

that all States have an obligation to pursue such

negotiations in good faith.

On 27 March 1997 the South-East Asia Nuclear-

Weapon-Free Zone Treaty entered into force. On that day,

the world of nuclear weapons became much smaller. We

now urge the nuclear-weapon States to support the Treaty

by becoming parties to its Protocol. At this session we

will once again consider the initiative of consolidating

existing nuclear-weapon-free zones and of promoting

cooperation among them with a view to the total

elimination of such weapons.

Global safety also demands control of the

proliferation of conventional arms, particularly small arms

and anti-personnel landmines, whether deployed or in

national stockpiles. In Oslo earlier this month the Ottawa

process produced, after less than a year, the text of a

treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. We will sign this

treaty in December. We will also continue to support the

noble efforts of the Organization, of individual

Governments and of non-governmental organizations to

clear minefields, to assist mine victims and to rehabilitate

areas plagued by these infernal devices.

At the dawn of the post-cold-war era, we must

acknowledge that the potential for the most serious

conflict has shifted almost entirely from the global to the

regional level. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Association

of South-East Asian Nations, in response to this new

reality, has led in creating the ASEAN Regional Forum,

a ministerial-level, multilateral forum for promoting

regional-security dialogue and cooperation. Today in the

Asia-Pacific region dialogue and cooperation are the pre-

eminent modes for securing peace.

However, the disputes in the South China Sea

remain a source of tension for our region. In 1992,

ASEAN issued, at Manila, a Declaration on the South

China Sea, which called for the settlement of disputes

exclusively by peaceful means and for the exercise of

self-restraint by all of the claimants. Other States have

endorsed this Declaration. We are determined to advance

towards a settlement of these disputes in conformity with

international law, including the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea, while avoiding all acts

inimical to stability and a sense of security in the region.

9

Like many here, we were saddened by the recent

events in the political life of Cambodia. We in ASEAN

have initiated a dialogue to address the Cambodian issue,

even as we look forward to the early admission of

Cambodia into the ASEAN family.

On the Korean peninsula, we hope that the current

talks will lead not only to large dividends of peace but also

to greater cooperation towards economic growth and

progress for East Asia.

In South Africa, following the collapse of apartheid,

we are witnessing bold and sincere efforts towards deeper

national reconciliation. In other parts of Africa we see

active regional cooperation to promote peace and justice in

the aftermath of terrible conflicts. In Liberia, in particular,

we welcome the holding of free and fair elections with the

support of the international community, led by the

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

In the Middle East, peace is gravely imperilled by

terrorism and political aggression. We call on all parties to

renounce all forms of violence and intimidation to preserve

the peace process that was begun only a few years ago to

the applause of the whole world.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where much remains to be

done, we regret the deterioration of civil order and

condemn the violence directed against United Nations

personnel.

In Latin America, we welcome the honourable

termination of the civil war that had raged in Guatemala for

36 years.

Is the world a safer place for the world itself? The

environment of our planet is under threat. Our response

must be to accelerate implementation of Agenda 21 in line

with the programme adopted last June. As a priority, we

must address the lack of financial resources, technology,

know-how and international cooperation that inhibits the

promotion of worldwide sustainable development.

This December we will meet again to discuss a legally

binding instrument under the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change to control harmful

emissions. We must agree now on emission reduction

targets, particularly for those who have emitted too much

for far too long.

How safe, we should also ask, is the world for the

individual human being? We can answer positively only

when it becomes universally accepted that every human

being has rights inherent in his or her person, and that all

basic rights — political, civil, social and economic —

must be in balanced harmony with one another. Thus, as

long as human rights are violated, as long as the right to

development is vitiated, as long as the rights of women

are not fully respected, as long as people are traded like

chattels, as long as migrant workers, especially women

migrant workers, are abused and exploited, we cannot say

that the world is a safer place for the individual human

person.

We must protect our women. We must act on the

decisions we reached in Beijing, and we must do more to

deepen and broaden respect for the rights of women

through the use of existing human rights agreements and

mechanisms.

We must protect our children. We must effectively

implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and

we must append to this Convention a protocol that would

organize global measures against child slavery,

prostitution and pornography.

In addition, we call for universal adherence to the

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights

of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

The protection of human rights finds its most

effective guarantees in democracy. Any threat to

democracy also poses a direct and indirect threat to the

rights of the human person. Today, in many countries,

including my own, democracy is no longer endangered by

the extreme political left or right. Rather, the threats to

democracy are more base and more insidious. Among

them are terrorism and the illicit traffic in narcotics.

With the objective of creating a regional consensus

on how best to address the issue of illicit drugs and other

transnational crimes, the Philippines will next year host

the regional ministerial meeting for Asia and the Pacific

on organized transnational crime and corruption. For this

meeting, we hope to take inspiration from and add to the

consensus achieved in the regional meetings held in

Africa and Latin America.

Our efforts to make the world a safer place, and to

safeguard the rights of the individual, would lose much of

their meaning if we were unable to answer the basic

question: have the opportunities for growth and economic

progress improved?

10

The rising tide of globalization has brought

unprecedented opportunities for the developed and

developing worlds alike. The acceptance of market-oriented

development and of free trade by an increasing number of

developing nations has expanded their participation in the

growth and commerce of the global economy. Yet the

benefits of globalization remain unevenly distributed.

Developing countries still suffer from the old problems of

external debt and of protectionism in developed-country

markets.

The recent currency turbulence in East Asia, the

region with the best long-term growth prospects in the

world, is a sobering reminder that globalization can cause

instability even where it has generated the greatest growth.

The existence of unbridled international speculation and of

other market ills that hinder rather than help development

is a powerful rationale for strengthening the United Nations

role in global development.

Only in the United Nations can we work to share,

among rich and poor nations alike, the burden of structural

adjustment imposed by globalization. Only within the

United Nations system can we mobilize concerted global

action to support progress in the poor regions of the globe,

particularly in Africa, whose needs call for special

attention.

The Bretton Woods system and the multilateral

development banks also need reform. Global flows of

multilateral development financing have to be increased,

especially since bilateral official development assistance is

declining.

Countries that wish to reduce their share in the

financing of the United Nations should be willing to do the

same in international financial institutions, so that those that

want to increase their contributions to these institutions are

able to do so without hindrance.

Another fundamental question we must ask is: are we

ready, as an Organization of States, as nations united, to

face the challenges of tomorrow? The short answer is “No”.

For this reason, the Philippines strongly believes that

we must immediately embark upon the reform of the

United Nations. We need to enhance the capacity of the

world body to meet the exigencies of modern times. A

fundamental objective of reform should be to restore

development to the centre of the United Nations agenda.

The Philippines, therefore, endorses the

recommendations of the Open-ended High Level Working

Group on the Strengthening of the United Nations

System. If properly implemented, they could render the

General Assembly more effective in fulfilling its Charter

responsibilities.

Our Secretary-General has given us a report on his

own reform proposals. These deserve the serious

consideration of the General Assembly. We appreciate the

emphasis placed by the Secretary-General on

development.

We also need to accelerate discussions on the reform

of the Security Council. In this regard, we welcome the

progress that has been made in clarifying and identifying

the elements that must be negotiated if we are to move

towards any expansion of the membership of the Council.

The Philippines favours the enlargement of the

membership of the Council in order to enhance its

efficiency and effectiveness. Security Council membership

should be more representative of the world’s developing

regions and more reflective of modern global realities.

New permanent members should enjoy the same rights as

current permanent members. The use of the veto should

be limited to actions under Chapter VII of the Charter.

Talking of reform is good. But our talk will lead

nowhere if our Organization does not have the resources

required to improve and revitalize itself. We survived the

balance of terror of the cold war. Let us now work on

balancing our cheque-books in the post-cold-war era.

There is much irony in this. The end of the cold war

should also have meant an end to the astronomical

finances spent on deterrence. It might have been

reasonable to expect that a fraction of those finances

could now be shared to help the United Nations promote

world peace, progress and prosperity.

Yet this is obviously not the case. The Secretary-

General’s proposed revolving credit fund of $1 billion, to

be financed though voluntary contributions or other

means — if it materializes — may provide temporary

relief. However, there is a real danger that this proposal

will encourage those in arrears to delay further their

payments to the Organization.

The Philippines is in favour of reform. But

reforming the United Nations should not be seen as an

opportunity to hold our Organization to ransom. We are

all in favour of reforming and strengthening the United

11

Nations. But setting benchmarks of reform should not be a

precondition for a Member State to pay its assessed

contributions.

In the 100 years since my country declared its

independence, war and occupation, dictatorship and partisan

politics have at one time or another endangered our

democracy. And in those eventful 100 years, we have

cultivated certain insights that might prove relevant to us

here today. We have learned, as a country, that we must

cherish the ideals of democracy in all aspects of our

national life, including in our dealings with other nations.

After my people emerged victorious in our last major

battle with forces opposed to democracy over a decade ago,

we resolved to share our experience with the rest of the

world. Thus, we organized in Manila the first meeting of

the International Conference of New or Restored

Democracies (ICNRD) in 1988. From the 13 nations that

first met in Manila, ICNRD has grown to 76 countries

today. I congratulate Romania for its successful hosting of

ICNRD’s third meeting earlier this month.

Given the diversity of the membership of our

Organization, it is not surprising that we may have some

differences even on such fundamental issues as international

peace, global development and the protection of the

individual. However, I submit that, if our Organization is to

function properly and if Member States are to relate to each

other in an effective manner, then we must all follow

certain basic principles and ideals. These principles and

ideals are those that democracy has taught us. Let us work

together with all the creative energy at our command and

with the ideals of democracy as our guiding light.