Your Excellencies, the Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Dr. Zahidil Huque, UN Resident Coordinator,
Brigadier General Ruben Rafael, our Military Host,
The Officials and Staff of UN Agencies and other International Organizations,
The Officials and Staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs,
Judge Aurora Reciña, Acting President of the United Nations Association of the
   Philippines,
The Family Members of General Carlos P. Romulo,
Mr. Ricardo Romulo,
Mrs. Beth Day Romulo,
Colleagues in Government,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

Mankind’s Last Battlefield

I am pleased to be with you on this occasion.

Sixty years ago, in an unprecedented show of unity against war, representatives from fifty countries gathered in San Francisco to draft the Charter of the United Nations.

Our common humanity demanded that we build a better and peaceful world.

To do that, representatives from fifty nations gathered in San Francisco in a building dedicated to those who defended and fought for freedom, to draft a charter that would unite the nations of the world for peace.

As the Philippine’s Carlos P. Romulo, the head of the Philippine Delegation, said in 1945 at the founding of the United Nations, “LET US MAKE THIS FLOOR THE LAST BATTLEFIELD.”

The leading lights attending the founding of the United Nations are still familiar to us – Joseph Paul Boncour of France, Wellington Koo of China, Andrei Gromyko of the Soviet Union, Lord Halifax of Great Britain, Edward Stettinius of the United States, His Royal Highness Faisal Ibn Abdul Aziz of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar of India, Jan Smuts of South Africa, Jan Masaryk of Czechoslovakia, Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium, Herbert Evatt of Australia, Exequiel Padilla of Mexico, and others.

These visionaries led the historic and daunting task of writing the United Nations Charter.
 

Trust and Confidence in Humanity

General Romulo had a deep and abiding faith in the capacity of humanity and nations to foreswear violence in favor of peace.  General Romulo also firmly believed that the UN could enable nations and men to achieve the highest aspirations for a better world.

That confidence in the community of nations was reciprocated when General Romulo was elected the President of the 4th UN General Assembly.  He was the first Asian to preside over the body.  The world’s trust in General Romulo was again demonstrated when he served as President of the UN Security Council two times, in separate decades:  the first in 1957 and the second in 1980.

It is most fitting, therefore, that as we commemorate the creation of the United Nations, we also honor the memory of a man who has come to symbolize the Philippines’ and, the world’s continuing commitment to build and secure peace for all of humankind.  General Romulo is rightly called “Mr. United Nations.”

Human Realities Today

After six decades, the world’s commitment to peace has grown even stronger.  Today, 191 states fully identify with the objectives of the United Nations and strive to build on and protect mankind’s edifice of peace.

But even as the world has successfully averted a global war, it still faces the daunting challenge of winning for all peoples their freedom from fear and want.

The pursuit of human dignity continues.

For more than two thirds of the world, life is a bitter daily struggle against the debilitating effects of poverty and underdevelopment.  Deadly diseases and lack of access to medical services threaten the well-being of millions today.   Unclean water and the absence of facilities and services to deliver safe and potable water compound the health situation for much of the world.  The inability to provide education, on the other hand, reinforces centuries-old resentments and biases against peoples and cultures of the world.

And on top of these realities are equally vile and disconcerting threats.  Terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, environmental degradation – threats that feed on conditions of poverty and underdevelopment – continue to raise fear in a shrinking, increasingly interconnected and globalized world.

Humanity’s Challenges

Sixty years since the creation of the United Nations, the world has drastically changed.  And while the prevention of war and protection of peace remain the constants upon which cooperation between the community of nations is firmly built, global realities compel a shift in approach.

The order of battle today consists not only of the reinforcement of the ramparts of freedom against violent aggression.   We need to win the hearts and minds of those who, having been left out by poverty and underdevelopment, fall prey to the insidious treachery of terrorism.

Not only should we take concerted action on the root causes of terrorism, the nations of the world should likewise address the HIV/AIDS problem, which is a major health issue.  If left unchecked, more than 30 million people may die of AIDS in the next 5 – 10 years.

We also face today the threat of a virus pandemic.  The World Health Organization has recently warned of this potential influenza outbreak in the scale of the 1918 flu pandemic, where between 20 to 50 million people died.

The avian flu poses a serious challenge that all nations must now join hands to effectively contain this virus. Towards this objective, we must establish an influenza control program as one of the measures to prevent the spread of the bird flu.

We must therefore come up with creative and comprehensive solutions that address the multi-dimensional aspects of global problems and threats - worsened by underdevelopment and poverty.  Thus, the Millennium Development Goal aims to address these problems by reducing poverty by half by 2015.

Other options such as debt-for-development to address poverty, and instruments such as interfaith dialogue to foster understanding and respect between cultures and civilizations, present viable alternatives to conventional solutions and approaches that have so far been ineffective.

We agree with Secretary General Kofi Annan that the responsibilities must be shared, and thus, the UN should continue to play a central role as the most universal and representative intergovernmental organization.

Actions for Humanity

General Romulo’s words during the 1946 General Assembly ring true today:

     “We are not here to reap and divide the harvest of victory, but to make ready the hearts and minds of men for the needs of peace.”

On this note, let us move forward in the pursuit of peace, justice and equity.

Thank you and good morning. END