RP sending more peacekeeping troops to Haiti, Liberia

President Arroyo has approved the deployment of more than 300 fresh peacekeeping troops to Haiti and Liberia, both struggling to recover from civil strife, the military said yesterday.

A 165-strong military contingent bound for Liberia and 155 soldiers destined for Haiti were to start leaving today to relieve Filipino peacekeepers deployed earlier to the beleaguered countries, the military said in a statement.

They will have a six-month tour of duty, during which their expenses would be shouldered by the United Nations.

Despite the killing of a Filipino peacekeeper in Haiti in April, the Philippines has continued to provide assistance to the Caribbean nation as part of a commitment to help the United Nations provide humanitarian help there, it said.

The troops to be deployed to Liberia would be the fifth batch of Filipino peacekeepers there, while the Haiti contingent will be the third batch.

Army Col. Mario Mendoza will head the contingent to Liberia, while Army Col. Cesar Dionisio Sedillo will command the Haiti batch.

Police and an 8,860-strong UN peacekeeping force have pledged to restore security there, which evaporated after the February 2004 rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Widespread kidnappings have been a key concern as Jan. 8 presidential and parliamentary elections approach.

In Liberia, some 15,000 UN peacekeepers are helping keep the calm following presidential elections last November that raised hopes the West African nation would move past a war that killed 200,000 people.

Each member of the Philippine contingent will receive a monthly mission allowance equivalent to 250 percent of the basic pay for officers while enlisted personnel will get 300 percent of their basic pay for the duration of the six-month deployment.

In April, SSgt. Antonio Batomalaque was killed following a rebel attack in Haiti. He was honored posthumously by the United States government in mid-December.

But the Haiti contingent also suffered a black eye when Navy LtSgt. Valentin Menpin and Marine Sgt. Geoffrey Geslani failed to return to their unit after taking a break in Florida, also in April. — AP, Jaime Laude