Press Release No. 179-03
16 April 2003
DEPARTMENT
TO HOST CHEMICAL WEAPONS SEMINAR
In line with the national policy to fully support disarmament of weapons
of mass destruction (WMD's), the Department of Foreign Affairs announced
that it will host a seminar and training course on chemical weapons prevention
next week.
According to Assistant Secretary Ma. Lourdes V. Ramiro-Lopez, head of the
DFA’s Office of United Nations and other International Organizations, (UNIO),
her office has organized a program of instruction to be led by representatives
of the Netherlands-based Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW). The OPCW is the international organization charged with monitoring
and facilitating global compliance with the “CWC” or the 1994 Convention
on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and
on their Destruction, which entered into force in 1997. DFA-UNIO is
the designated interim national authority of the Philippines for chemical
weapons.
The Philippines being a state party to the CWC, it is about to begin the
process of enacting implementing legislation for the Convention. However,
the Philippines neither produces nor maintains stocks of chemical weapons.
“The program consists of two parts,” said Lopez, “a seminar to help the Philippine
Government draft an appropriate legal framework to implement the CWC, followed
by a 'hands-on' practical training course for first-responders to chemical
weapons attacks.” Lopez added “the program is a clear demonstration
of our country’s commitment to global disarmament of weapons of mass destruction.
The current world and regional tensions make it imperative for us and our
neighbors to ensure that we are both legally prepared and technically equipped
to deal with potential WMD crises.”
The seminar is scheduled at the DFA Building on 21-22 April. For the
training course on April 23-25, the venue will shift to the National Defense
College of the Philippines (NDCP) at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Participants in the program will come from the Departments of National Defense,
Interior and Local Governments, Health, Justice, various other government
agencies, representatives of the chemical industry, academe and the media.