FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo arrived in Kampala, Uganda, Friday to represent President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at the 29th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
“On behalf of the President, I will be delivering the Philippine Statement during the Summit. I will convey the Philippines’s solidarity with developing countries on key issues such as climate change and sustainable development,” Manalo said in his predeparture statement.
NAM is a forum formed at the height of the Cold War between major superpowers the United States and Russia. It is composed of 120 member countries, almost two-thirds of the member states of the United Nations.
This is why the DFA strongly pitched to NAM its candidature to the UN Security Council.
“We request for the valuable support of all NAM members for the candidature of the Philippines to a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the term 2027-2028,” DFA Undersecretary Charles Jose said during the NAM Ministerial Meeting ahead of the Summit.
Jose lauded the Outcome Document released after the ministerial meeting which “encourages mutual support for the candidatures of NAM Member States to UN bodies, including the UN Security Council.”
NAM on South China Sea
However, Jose said the Philippines and the rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have reservations on the wordings in the Outcome Document and Kampala Declaration on South China Sea disputes.
“We would have liked to see a much more meaningful update, in accordance with the 56th Asean Joint Communique adopted by Asean Foreign Ministers,” Jose said.
Last year, Asean foreign ministers said they were “seriously disappointed” over the failure of NAM to “update” paragraphs on the South China Sea in the final document of the NAM ministerial meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“We called on all NAM Members to respect Asean, and Asean’s unity and Centrality, especially on issues which directly affect peace and prosperity in its own immediate region. We also called on all NAM Members to uphold their commitment to the main goals and objectives of NAM as enshrined in the Bandung Principles and to firmly uphold the principles of non-alignment while promoting peace, friendship, solidarity and cooperation among ourselves,” the Asean foreign ministers had said.
Jose said Asean has been requesting for a number of years that the bloc’s position be reflected.
Laos, which chairs the Asean standing committee this year, delivered the position of the bloc expressing “reservations” on some of the paragraphs related to the South China Sea.
“We hope for similar constructive and open engagement of NAM members with a view to eventaully achieving an outcome that fully reaffirms our solidarity,” he added.
Climate change, AI robot, NAM reforms
The NAM Outcome Document also highlighted the threat of climate change, and cited the recently concluded Manila Meeting on Indo-Pacific Perspectives on Lethal Autonomous Weapons.
NAM documents will also include a statement expressing “serious concern on Gaza” and call for enhanced humanitarian assistance and respect for international law.
“We note that the priorities of the African Union figure prominently in the document,” the DFA executive said. “Africa has an important role to play in world affairs, which the Philippines supports. For multilateralism to be effective, it must be inclusive.”
He then called on Uganda, as chair of NAM this year, to restart discussions on “enhancing the efficiency of the NAM’s working methods.
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