DFA wants UN funds deposited in government account

MANILA, Philippines –  Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo had instructed the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations in May 2008 to request the UN to deposit peacekeeping reimbursement funds owed to the Philippines to a Philippine Government account in New York to ensure that all funds are properly secured and accounted for.

In a statement, Romulo said these funds will remain safe until such time that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has coordinated with proper Philippine agencies to transfer these to the National Treasury.

This was upon the recommendation of then Philippine Permanent Representative Hilario Davide.

“These funds remain secure and intact,” Romulo said.

As regards the alleged missing UN reimbursement peacekeeping funds in 2001, the Secretary said he immediately instructed the Philippine Permanent Mission to check with concerned UN offices if there were such funds issued as reimbursements for peacekeeping equipment brought by our people to UN peacekeeping missions.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) takes very seriously its duty to ensure that the Philippine Government’s interactions with the United Nations remain aboveboard and consistent with the highest standards with which we have always conducted ourselves as a founding member of the world body,” Romulo said.

“Permanent Representative Libran Cabactulan has also recommended that these funds be immediately transferred to the National Treasury for proper accounting and safekeeping, and I concur,” he added.

The UN said on Thursday that the government disbursement of UN funds intended for its soldiers participating in peacekeeping operations should be in accordance with “national norms and standards.”

A statement was issued from the UN headquarters in New York attributable to the Office of the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon concerning allegations of diversion of UN funds for Filipino peacekeeping operations even as the DFA pointed out that payments and reimbursements for Philippine participation in peacekeeping operations during the period in question were remitted by the UN directly to the AFP and not to the DFA.

“This is a national matter. The UN reimburses governments, not soldiers, and we rely on the Member States to disburse the funds in accordance with their national norms and standards,” the statement read.

UN Resident Coordinator Jacqueline Badcock said the alleged misuse of UN funds is a national matter and it will not be dealt with locally by the UN resident office but at the level of UN headquarters in New York.

Former state auditor Heidi Mendoza revealed during a hearing at the House of Representatives her findings that P200 million in funds from the UN intended for the Philippine contingent in UN peacekeeping operations abroad was diverted to a private account, with P50 million missing.

Pandora’s box

Mendoza, head of the Financial Investigative Team commissioned by then Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo to audit military funds in 2004, said the involvement of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia in the alleged diversion of the UN fund was clear.

Diplomatic sources said that the alleged misuse of UN funds intended for Filipino troops in peacekeeping operations is of serious concern and is a subject of discussion at the DFA because of the issue of accountability and the world body’s trust in the Philippine government might be put in question.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Eduardo Malaya said the government is committed to ensure that interactions with the UN are aboveboard.

Malaya said that the DFA is reviewing its records and will make itself available for official inquiries on the matter.

The peacekeepers’ allowances were slashed by 54 percent in 2006 but police and military personnel were still interested to volunteer for deployment in peacekeeping contingents to countries like Lebanon because of the prestige in being part of such contingent.

The Philippines has a total of 1,025 peacekeepers from the AFP and PNP serving in UN missions in Liberia, Haiti, Darfur, Golan Heights, Sudan, Timor Leste and Cote d’Iviore.