Philippines, 1998

I am pleased, on behalf of

my delegation, to extend to Mr. Opertti our warmest

congratulations on his election to the presidency of the

General Assembly at its fifty-third session.

Just three months ago, the Philippines commemorated

the centennial of the birth of Asia’s first Republic. A month

before that the Filipino people conducted the most sacred

rite of a democracy: the election of national leaders by

popular will. The successful electoral process resulted in the

second peaceful transfer of power since our “people power”

revolution of 1986. President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, with

a resounding mandate from the Filipino people, has taken

over the task of leading the Philippines into its second

century as a free and democratic nation. But he does so at

a very trying time; he must steer the ship of state on very

turbulent waters, with global forecasts painting a picture

of even more stormy weather ahead.

And the Asian economic crisis rolls on; it is no

longer just Asian nor entirely economic. It will wreak

havoc anywhere and spare no one. It has already hit the

Philippines hard, though perhaps not as badly as some

other countries. Yet, for us, the only tenable direction to

go is forward; to go back is to founder. Thus, the Estrada

Administration’s economic policy will remain market-

friendly, even as it is pro-poor and pro-business. The

Philippines will keep the momentum of economic reform

and strengthen in particular its financial and banking

sectors.

Like all other States, the Philippines pursues foreign

policy to promote national security and development. But

we view national security beyond the traditional concerns

of sovereignty and territorial integrity. For in a global

regime characterized by evolving multipolarity of political

and military power and by growing economic and

financial interdependence, with all their attendant

opportunities and risks, my nation’s peace and prosperity

increasingly depend on stability and growth abroad. As

President Estrada has said, our way of life, our

fundamental values and our institutions can flourish and

find true expression only if we enjoy political stability,

economic solidarity, sociocultural cohesion, moral

consensus and ecological balance, at home as well as with

our partners in the world. Our national security and

development demand that we actively advance the

internationally shared goals of freedom, openness, peace,

prosperity and justice.

It is in this context that the Philippines regards the

United Nations, which it helped found 53 years ago, as a

most important partner in our efforts to promote our own

national security and development.

Our part of the world, the Asia-Pacific region, is the

scene of growing regional cooperation coexisting side by

side with regional tensions. The Association of South-East

Asian Nations (ASEAN) has not only increased its

membership but has also expanded its work from the

purely economic and social to the security and political

fields. It took the lead in creating the ASEAN Regional

Forum — the only regional security dialogue mechanism

that brings together all the Powers with a stake in peace

and stability in East Asia and the Western Pacific. The

Philippines hosted the fifth ASEAN Regional Forum last

July and is gratified with the growing trust and

confidence among Forum participants and with the

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progress in the promotion of greater transparency and

mutual understanding in the region.

Nevertheless, the Asia-Pacific region is not tension-

free. Territorial disputes and issues left over from the

Second World War fester. The Philippines hopes that as the

new millennium dawns meaningful action towards the

resolution of such issues will commence in earnest among

the countries concerned.

Peace in the Korean peninsula is essential. The

Philippines supports ongoing efforts, including those of the

Four-Party Talks and of the Korean Peninsula Energy

Development Organization (KEDO), to build the

foundations of peace in the Korean peninsula.

Peace in the South China Sea is crucial to peace and

prosperity in East Asia. The Philippines encourages all

parties concerned to scrupulously observe the principles

contained in the ASEAN Declaration on the South China

Sea of 1992.

The ratification of the Treaty establishing the African

Economic Community augurs well for Africa. The efforts

at conflict resolution and prevention by the Organization of

African Unity (OAU) and subregional organizations such as

the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), deserve to be lauded.

Nonetheless, one cannot escape the fact that the more

intense of today’s conflicts have occurred in Africa. The

tragic events in Rwanda, in Burundi, between Ethiopia and

Eritrea, in Sierra Leone and now in the Congo are familiar

to us all. Although these States are responsible for their

future, the recurring and protracted conflicts in Africa

demand a multilateral response to the political, economic

and social ills of the region, and the need to address

development issues is paramount. We also cannot afford to

ignore the humanitarian disasters such as those in the

Sudan. Indeed, political stability is required in Africa, but

so is aid. Let no one in this Hall forget Africa and our

collective duty to alleviate human suffering there.

The Philippines firmly hopes that the Middle East

peace process will resume in earnest and encompass all

relevant parties. We reaffirm the need to achieve a

comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The growing number of signatures to and ratifications

of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and

the review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT) raised hopes that nuclear weapons

were becoming obsolete. Unfortunately, the nuclear-

weapon States have yet to live up to their NPT

commitments. Moreover, the recent nuclear tests in South

Asia were a destabilizing development.

The proliferation of missile technology and

capability is just as fraught with danger, if not more

dangerous, than the spread of nuclear weapons. These two

make for a deadly combination for everyone; both must

be stopped. So, too, must the continuing development and

stockpiling of other weapons of mass destruction cease.

Likewise, we need to put an end to the unregulated

transfer and indiscriminate and often illegal circulation of

small arms and light weapons.

The Philippines is also deeply committed to the

banning and destruction of anti-personnel landmines. My

Government is deeply gratified that our common intense

effort to conclude the Convention on anti-personnel mines

succeeded last December. We strongly urge States that

have not yet done so to sign the Convention. We urge all

to assist in landmine clearance and the rehabilitation of

landmine victims.

Political instability and the collapse of peace and

order in any State produce deleterious effects, including

security threats for others. For this reason, the Philippines

contributes where it can to the establishment or

restoration of political stability in other lands, particularly

in support of democracy.

Cambodia’s recently held elections have been judged

free and fair. But, as recent developments in that country

show, democratic elections, while necessary, are not a

sufficient condition for democracy or for peace and

stability. Cooperation by all Cambodian parties, prompted

by a deeper love for the nation’s good, is required.

The efforts of the ASEAN troika, the Friends of

Cambodia and the United Nations have not been in vain;

they have just not been enough. Much could be done by

the international community; but so much more needs to

be done by the Cambodians themselves to pull their

country back from the brink.

The Philippines hopes to see a fully stable South-

East Asia, where all peoples enjoy peace and national

reconciliation. We hope to see all 10 countries in the

region working together for a united and outward-looking

South-East Asia, bonded in a partnership of dynamic

development and in a community of caring societies.

Thus, we are committed to assisting Myanmar and Laos

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in their integration into a peaceful, prosperous, humane and

just ASEAN.

Peace and order are threatened by the evils of

terrorism and transnational crime. Terrorism is a crime

against humanity, and we strongly condemn it.

Transnational crime in all its guises, including drug-

trafficking, trafficking in women and children, and money-

laundering, must be stopped. The Philippines joins the rest

of the international community in hailing the adoption of

the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court. I wish

to convey my Government’s serious intention to consider

the matter of accession to that treaty in the near future.

The world needs economic solidarity. And the Asian

crisis, which has spread to other regions, is our immediate

global concern. For in its wake, millions of lives have been

afflicted, with untold suffering. In its path, nations may fall.

The Bretton Woods institutions have played a vital role in

the global economy. But it is now clear that their methods

and their resources, particularly those of the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), are sorely insufficient to contain the

crisis and to restore the health of afflicted economies. We

need to replenish IMF resources, augment the funds of the

World Bank and the regional banks, and develop new

remedies for the new problems of a globalized economy.

The United Nations can play a significant role in

fostering international cooperation and action to solve the

global crisis and mitigate its effects. Together, we can fight

protectionism. The suffering spawned by the crisis must be

addressed. The significant decline in official development

assistance from donor countries needs to be reversed. Now

more than ever, social amelioration programmes and safety

nets must be enhanced.

The crisis has forced us, too, to focus attention on the

quality of governance. The issues of corruption and

cronyism have been catapulted to the top of national

debates. The ensuing convergence of ideas and resolve

towards greater transparency and a more level playing field,

at home and throughout the world, should be boons to our

peoples and nations.

The financial crisis has also confronted us with the

reality that the world is dealing with a new phenomenon.

This is the phenomenon of massive amounts of capital

flowing across national borders at lightning speed, bloating

economies into fragile bubbles as they rush in and shaking

economies to their foundations as they are withdrawn. This

is one aspect of globalization that carries great peril. It

requires much diligent study and delicate handling.

We have long recognized the need to recast the

global trading regime and make it more responsive to the

requirements of our time. Our efforts on this are well

advanced. Now we must begin the work on the global

financial system. Together, we must plan and build a new

architecture that best suits today’s and tomorrow’s needs.

The Philippines welcomes President Clinton’s eight-

point agenda to lead the world out of the current global

economic and financial instability. Real action is what the

world, not just Asia, needs urgently. Indeed, threatening

clouds are overhead. Lives are needlessly shattered. We

need to limit the damage now and start rebuilding as soon

as we can.

Another lesson the crisis teaches us is about how

brittle and fleeting high growth in gross domestic product

is. It is not difficult to associate the roots of civil unrest

in the wake of economic hardships with the lack of social

justice on the ground. The poor, who get hit first and

hardest in any economic downturn, will always be restive

if development yields dividends only for the rich. The

crisis makes us realize that the fruits of prosperity and the

pains of sacrifice must be enjoyed or borne equitably.

The globalization of information and the media may

have reduced cultural barriers to the point of

homogenizing certain cultural aspects of life. But the

world continues to suffer from cultural intolerance. The

plight of children, the rights and advancement of women

and human rights in general still need to be addressed

vigorously by the international community. The

continuing exploitation of children for pornography,

prostitution and drug-trafficking, not to mention the

suffering of displaced and refugee children, is a global

problem. The Convention on the Rights of the Child

should guide international action in this area. At the

regional level, the Philippines and the United Kingdom,

under the aegis of the Asia-Europe Meeting, have

launched a joint initiative on child welfare with a view to

creating a better international cooperation mechanism on

this endeavour.

The Philippines attaches great importance to the

promotion and protection of the rights of migrant workers

and their families, and we continue to call upon all

countries to accede to the International Convention on the

Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and

Members of Their Families.

All human rights — political, civil, social and

economic — are universal, indivisible, interdependent and

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interrelated. So long as any or all of these rights are not

respected globally, we cannot rest, even as we celebrate the

fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. For the Philippines, the best and surest way to

promote social justice and human rights is through a sincere

commitment to the rule of law. And one law that is self-

evident and immutable in all cultures is the sanctity of

human life and the dignity of the human person.

Many of the international commitments made at the

United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development, particularly Agenda 21, remain unfulfilled.

And sadly, no new or additional resources needed by

developing countries to implement many of the actions

agreed at the Summit have materialized. We appeal for

early action on these points.

Sustainable development continues to be an important

focus of Philippine foreign policy. As Chair of the sixth

session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the

Philippines emphasized the role of civil society in the

implementation of cooperative activities in key areas such

as freshwater resources, the role of industry, technology

transfer and capacity-building in development.

Last April, the Philippines signed the Kyoto Protocol

to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change. We join other States parties to the Convention in

urging the speedy entry into force of that Protocol.

Addressing global challenges and problems requires

international action and cooperation. The United Nations

remains the principal multilateral forum for the initiation of

such action and cooperation. As a founding member, the

Philippines recognizes that the United Nations must have

the active support of all its Members and adequate

resources in order to be effective. We have supported the

various reform exercises undertaken in the past years, and

we will continue to do so, to ensure the continued relevance

of this our reliable partner.

Inasmuch as the overwhelming majority of United

Nations members are from the developing world, the United

Nations reform process must restore development issues to

the core of the United Nations agenda. It should also enable

the General Assembly to fulfil effectively its Charter-

mandated responsibilities.

There is a pressing need to modernize and reform the

Security Council. The Council is the United Nations organ

with the primary responsibility for maintaining international

peace and security, and its decisions must be viewed as

serving the collective interest of all United Nations

Members. Thus, its membership must be enlarged to

include more key global players and developing countries.

Its working methods and decision-making processes

should become more transparent and democratic.

As a democracy, the Philippines is convinced that

global efforts and cooperation to achieve peace, prosperity

and development can succeed only if democracy thrives

within nations and serves as the basis for relations

between and among them. At the global level, this

requires respect for the principle of sovereign equality

among States, the commitment to enrich, not beggar, one

another, the need to uphold and defend the principles of

the United Nations Charter and international law, the

pacific settlement of disputes, the promotion of all human

rights, and respect for the one and only world we live in.

Without exception, all nations need to cooperate and be

part of the solution to all the world’s woes. For we are all

in this together, and there are no others to blame. As

Shakespeare admonished, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not

in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings“

(Julius Caesar, Act I, scene 2).