No Nobel Peace Prize boycott, government insists

MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino administration insisted yesterday it did not boycott the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony in Oslo, Norway with its decision not to send a representative.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo also rejected claims by some quarters that the government’s decision to skip the Nobel ceremonies Friday (Norway time) would reflect its stand on human rights.

“We do not think there is any connection. I think the word boycott is very strong. The Philippines is not doing a concerted act like taking a placard, and doing a picket and telling people not to do something. But simply, our representative will not be there at this time due to scheduling issue,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Malaya said.

Romulo and Malaya were at the Palace yesterday for the celebration of the International Human Rights Day.

Malaya said the invited Philippine representative was the ambassador who had to decline the invitation because his scheduled visit to Copenhagen, Denmark to attend to the concerns of the local Filipino community coincided with the awarding rites.

“And we do not think a substitute would be proper,” Malaya said.

He said the ambassador’s trip to Denmark had been arranged even before the identity of the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was announced.  

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo is this year’s awardee. China has denounced Nobel’s choice of Liu.

Romulo said there was no link between the country’s stand on human rights and the Nobel event.

“Our record (on human rights) is very clear on that,” he said.

Malaya said the commitment of the Philippines to human rights is clear and well established. – Aurea Calica, Pia Lee Brago