RP SIGNS
FACILITY AGREEMENT WITH COMPREHENSIVE NUCLEAR TEST BAN
TREATY ORGANIZATION
The Philippines signed yesterday (14 April) a Facility Agreement with the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) at ceremonies
held at the CTBTO headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Philippine Ambassador
to Austria and concurrently Philippine Permanent Representative to the United
Nations Office in Vienna Victor G. Garcia II signed the Agreement on behalf
of the Philippine Government Upon instructions of Foreign Secretary Blas
F. Ople.
The Agreement is an important contribution of the Philippines to the promotion
of international peace and security. Article I of the Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) commits State Parties “not to carry out any
such nuclear explosion at any place under its jurisdiction and control.”
The Treaty calls for a verification system that will detect nuclear weapon
test explosions that are in violation of the treaty. An important part
of this verification system is the International Monitoring System (IMS),
a global network of 337 monitoring stations in 90 countries, using seismic,
hydroacoustic, infrasound and radionuclide monitoring technologies that are
used to detect nuclear explosions.
The Agreement with the Provisional Technical Secretariat of the Preparatory
Commission of the CTBT will govern the operation and maintenance of the Philippines’
contribution of three (3) facilities of the IMS.
The Philippines currently hosts two existing auxiliary seismic stations:
1) AS-79 in Mintal, Davao City operated by the Philippine
Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHILVOLCS),
2) 2) AS-80 in Tagaytay operated by the Manila Observatory
of the Ateneo de Manila University, and
3) one planned radionuclide station, RN-52 in Tanay, Rizal
province to be operated by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI).
The Philippines will also host one National Data Center to be hosted by PNRI
at its compound in Diliman, Quezon City.
The signing of the Facility Agreement is part of the Philippines’ steadfast
commitment to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
Then Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos signed the Treaty on September
24, 1996. It was ratified by the Philippine Senate on January 8, 2001.
Its principal sponsor and the author of the corresponding Senate resolution
was then-Senator Blas F. Ople, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations. The instrument of ratification was deposited in New York
on 23 February 2001.