No immediate pullout of troops from Golan Heights

MANILA, Philippines - There will be no immediate pullout of Filipino peacekeepers from the Golan Heights and Liberia even as President Aquino demanded a full report on the Golan Heights incident to guide the government in future deployment of troops to war zones.

“The Philippines is committed to fulfill its commitment to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force or UNDOF. The Filipino peacekeepers will complete their tour of duty in the Golan Heights next month, October 2014,” Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a press briefing yesterday.

“The President has instructed the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to prepare a report on the events over the past weekend as a guide for future policy and actions in similar situations,” he said.

On Monday, the AFP said it wanted UNDOF commander Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha, an Indian national, investigated by the UN for allegedly endangering the safety of the Filipino peacekeepers when he ordered them to lay down their firearms as demanded by the Syrian rebels.

AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang said Singha ordered the Filipino peacekeepers to surrender their firearms to secure the release of the Fijian peacekeepers who were taken by the rebels after they surrendered their firearms.

Catapang said such order was not covered by the terms of reference of peacekeeping agreement with the UN.

The Fijian peacekeepers – at least 44 of them – were captured by the Syrian rebels who overran their position last week. They remained in captivity as of yesterday.

Their 75 Filipino counterparts, holed up at Positions 68 and 69, engaged their attackers in a seven-hour firefight after days of standoff.

“The President has asked for the report so that there will be a clearer perspective. Let’s take into account the fact that General Catapang was narrating the events as told to him by the ground commanders, so there is a need to understand all of those reports in perspective and in context,” Coloma said.

He stressed the President found the Filipino peacekeepers’ action highly commendable.

“They kept their composure despite the pressure created by the attack of the Syrian rebel group. And the President, in asking for the report on this latest incident, would like some clearer policy perspectives for future deployments,” Coloma said.

“It will be an ongoing study considering that there’s already an announced policy decision to complete the current engagements and tour of duty,” he said.

Coloma said the policy would be the same in Liberia where an Ebola outbreak was threatening the safety of the Filipino troops.

He added it would be up to Congress to study possible laws that would guide deployment of Filipino troops abroad.

Coloma said the President would want to look into all aspects of engagement as part of the Philippines’ international commitment and membership in the UN.

Resigned

Catapang also said that Filipino UNDOF chief of staff Col. Ezra James Enriquez resigned last Sunday reportedly due to irreconcilable differences with Singh.

Enriquez’s resignation came a day after the Filipinos’ escape from a Syrian siege.

It was learned that Catapang himself had asked Enriquez and other Filipinos peacekeepers serving as staff officers of the Indian UNDOF force commander to quit their posts.

“It’s like, you have a boss and a secretary or the chief of staff. If you’re not anymore in good talking terms, it would be an honorable act to file your courtesy resignation,” he said.

Enriquez, a highly skilled combat armor officer and military pilot, retains his post as overall commander of the Philippine peacekeeping contingent in the Golan Heights, according to Catapang.

The AFP chief earlier said he and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had urged the Filipino troops to defy Singha’s order for them to surrender.

“I told them not to follow the order because that is a violation of our regulation, that we do not surrender our firearms and at the same time, there is no assurance that you will be safe after you give your firearms,” Catapang said.

He said the trapped Filipino soldiers led by platoon leader Capt. Nilo Ramones were aware of the rebels’ plan to overrun their camp and take them hostage.

Catapang said what the Filipino peacekeepers had achieved was “the greatest escape.”

He said the Filipino troops were running out of ammunition and that another assault the following day would have led to a massacre.

Under cover of darkness, Ramones led his men out of their positions and across a minefield.

“We approved the escape plan because we monitored that the rebels were regrouping while waiting for reinforcement in preparation for another wave of attack,” Catapang said.

Right decision

Vice President Jejomar Binay also lauded the Filipino soldiers for defying their Indian commander and holding their ground against the Syrian militants.

“I think the situation warranted that they not surrender their only means to defend themselves. A spoken guarantee of safe passage is simply not enough assurance, given that it was their own lives at stake,” Binay said.

“They could also have been taken hostage like their counterparts from Fiji if they surrendered their arms,” Binay said.

He also said the troops’ “courage and commitment to keep the peace in the face of extreme danger” was highly commendable.

“What they did shows that our soldiers can think tactically even under the extreme pressure of heavy fire. That they can think on their feet and make tactical decisions reflects well on their training in the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines),” the Vice President said.

Binay also thanked the Israeli and Syrian governments for supporting the Filipino troops during the siege.

He also expressed hope that the Fijian peacekeepers would be released soon.

Over 300 Filipino soldiers are part of the peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights.

A UN encampment at Position 80, located on the Israel side of the border, is still being manned by Filipino troops.

The rest have relocated to the UNDOF headquarters or to the Philippine Battalion headquarters in Camp Ziouni.

Meanwhile, Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo Biazon sought yesterday the passage of his resolution seeking to commend Catapang and the members of the Philippine contingent to UNDOF in Syria.

Biazon, chairman of the House committee on national defense and security, said Catapang asked the Filipino soldiers assigned to the UNDOF not to surrender and turn over their firearms to the Syrian rebels.

He said the Filipino peacekeepers defended their position to pursue their mandate under the UN despite an “apparent directive” from the UNDOF commander to yield to the rebels.

“The actions of the chief of staff and our peacekeepers are highly commendable and worthy of recognition as it showed to the international community the sterling qualities and dedication to duty of our soldiers, even in the face of numerically superior forces, are worthy of emulation,” Biazon stated in his resolution. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude