By Priam F. Nepomuceno
MANILA, Aug. 29 (PNA) — Department of National Defense (DND) Undersecretary for Defense Operations Natalio Ecarma said on Friday the ongoing stand-off between 75 Filipino peacekeepers and Syrian rebels at Golan Heights justifies the Philippine decision to repatriate its forces in the area.
“I think this incident is one of the reasons to justify our pullout as it is getting too dangerous. We are willing to help keep the peace but not to the extent of our soldiers getting killed or wounded in the firefights,” he stressed.
Ecarma served in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in 2010.
“And as the President (Benigno S. Aquino III) said, ‘I am the father of 100 million Filipinos and even these soldiers who are in Golan are Filipinos so I care for their safety and security’, so with this new threat in a way justifies his decision to pull us out,” he added.
Ecarma also expressed hope that the situation will be resolved without the use of force as the UNDOF works through negotiations and not by confrontation.
“UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his assistant secretaries are contacting, back-channeling, talking to those who are supporting these rebel groups to talk to them and make them stand down and not continue threatening our peacekeepers,” the DND official stressed. (PNA)