Press Release 097-03
March 20, 2003
RP HAS JOINED COALITION TO DISARM IRAQ – OPLE


Reiterating that Filipinos in the Middle East can never be truly safe until the issue of the weapons of mass destruction of the Iraqi regime is resolved, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople confirmed that the Philippines has become a member of the US-led “coalition of the willing,” renamed “Coalition for the immediate disarmament of Iraq.”

“Not only is the short and long-term safety of our Filipinos seriously threatened by the presence of weapons of mass destruction of Iraq, but unless Iraq is disarmed, there is the very real possibility that terrorists could obtain these weapons and introduce a new and far more devastating and destructive era of terrorism,” Secretary Ople said.

“We must prevent this or the world and everyone in it will never be safe,” he added.

Ople said, however, that the Philippines has definitely ruled out sending combat troops.  “We need every ounce of our limited strength, as a developing country, to deal with our own problems of internal security,” the Secretary said.

Secretary Ople said that as a member of the coalition, the Philippines determines the nature, scope and form of its own contribution to the coalition.

“In our case, we are contributing moral and political support.” Secretary Ople said.

He added that if requested, the government will study allowing the use of Philippine air space and port facilities for US-led allied planes transiting from the Asia-Pacific area to the Gulf region.



Ople said this was already done in the case of “Enduring Freedom” overflights in the Afghanistan war. “Any decision on this matter will always be made in accordance with the Philippine Constitution, laws and treaty obligations,” he added.

He said the Philippines can also participate in a post-conflict scenario by sending a humanitarian mission of doctors and nurses as well as a modest peacekeeping force to be drawn from volunteers from the Philippine National Police.

The Secretary said that the Philippines has been cited as a member of the 30-nation coalition for the immediate disarmament of Iraq.  The number rises to 45, but 15 of these countries were not willing to be named immediately.

The 30-nation coalition is made up of the following : Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan (post-conflict only), South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan.