‘Peacekeepers did the right thing’

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang maintained yesterday the Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights made the right decision to escape when attacked by Syrian rebels, a third party in the ongoing conflict between Syria and Israel.

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) commander Lieutenant General Iqbal Singha assailed the Filipino troops for escaping while their Fijian counterparts were still being held by Syrian rebels.

Singha said the escape of the Filipino peacekeepers was an act of cowardice and disobedience to the chain of command.

The Filipino peacekeepers said Singha ordered them to surrender their firearms to the rebels and risk their safety but this was denied by Singha and the UN.

Fiji’s Army chief Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga revealed in various interviews that the detained 45 Fijian peacekeepers, in fact, surrendered to the Syrian rebels following the orders of Singha, based on various reports in Fiji.

In a press briefing, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said they did not want to exacerbate the situation.

Earlier, Malacañang said President Aquino was still awaiting the full report on the incident.

“But let me just emphasize one thing: Peacekeepers are there to keep the peace between Israel and Syria. What we have in the situation on the ground, in the Golan Heights, was that there was a third party non-state that intervened – meaning, the Syrian rebels,” Lacierda said.

“And so, the rules of engagement changed in the sense that, while the peacekeepers are not supposed to take any offensive operation… they were attacked and so they would have to defend themselves. This is was apparent and obvious in the situation between the Syrian rebels and Philippine troops. And we believe that – and are very certain – that our Philippine troops, our Filipino peacekeepers, made the right decision,” he said.

Lacierda said the Filipino peacekeepers were running low on ammunition and it was not “something imaginable” for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as peacekeepers to surrender.

“And so, we stand by our Filipino peacekeepers, they did the right decision. As to the statement of General Singha, we would rather let the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) issue a statement to that effect,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said all other issues, including the impending pullout of troops, would be answered by the DFA.

“This matter should be handled through diplomatic channels and we will leave it with the DFA to do so,” he said.

The DFA said the Philippines is taking steps to address the country’s peacekeeping concerns through diplomatic channels within the UN.

“We should focus now on supporting efforts to secure the freedom of the Fijian peacekeepers,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a statement yesterday.

DFA spokesman Charles Jose said “we are addressing it through diplomatic means,” when asked about Filipino troops in the Golan Heights being ordered by Singha to surrender their firearms to the rebels.

 AFP chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Catapang said he is not all insulted by Singha’s cowardice tag on Filipino peacekeepers for abandoning their post in the troubled Golan Heights.

“We are not cowards because we hold the ground. Is fighting the terrorists for seven hours a cowardly act? I don’t think so,” Catapang said in response to Singha’s accusations.

 Catapang said Singha shot himself in the mouth when he said the Filipinos peacekeepers were unprofessional for defying his direct command for them to surrender their weapons.

“He made a slip there,” he said.

 Catapang declined to comment on Singha’s claim that Filipino action has only further inflamed the already volatile situation on the ground, thus endangering the lives of the Fijian peacekeepers held hostage by the rebels.

“That’s out of the picture. We are not commenting on this for the time being. What is important is that we are safe and we are still under control by the UN,” he said.

“We will just let our President announce his findings. We don’t really want this to be a blame game,” Catapang said in reference to the blow-by-blow report on the three-day standoff that the AFP has submitted to Malacañang.

Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous commended the performance of the peacekeepers and especially Singha.

Responding to questions regarding the reported tender of resignation of a ranking Filipino UNDOF military official, Ladsous said it was important to recognize that all the detained Filipino troops had either escaped or been recovered during the operation launched by the Quick Reaction Force.

“The situation on the ground is a fluid one and the decision was to launch the Quick Reaction Force to extract the peacekeepers. General Singha exercised good, solid judgment throughout the process,” Ladsous said.

Col. Ezra James Enriquez resigned in protest of his superior’s order that could have endangered the lives of the besieged Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights.

He stepped down from his UNDOF post in disagreement with Singha’s call for peacekeepers to surrender their arms.

To another question on adjustments to UNDOF in the wake of recent incidents and the spate of similar ones the peacekeepers faced last year, Enriquez said the mission’s mandate was based on the 1974 agreement between Israel and Syria, and that would remain the framework of UNDOF’s operations.

“(Yet) no one could have factored in what is currently going on in the area of separation,” he said, so while it would be up to the parties to discuss changes, DPKO (UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations) has been working to address safety issues, medical care and adjust patterns of monitoring patrol.” –  Pia Lee-Brago, Jaime Laude