“Though at times frustrating, the Philippines believes in maintaining faith in multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations in the search for peace in the Middle East, a just and comprehensive negotiated peace, and a sovereign and independent Palestine,” the Secretary told the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Committee on Palestine.

“There is an urgent need, at this point, for the peace process to move forward and for the Quartet to redouble their efforts towards this end by steering negotiations through the Road Map endorsed by Security Council Resolution 1515 under the envisaged “two states solution” and the principle of parallelism in the performance of obligations by both sides under the Road Map.  We call on both parties to re-commit to the Road Map, which was re-affirmed by the Ministers to the Quartet in their meeting in New York on 4 May 2004,” the Secretary told the meeting.

Among the actions that the Philippines has taken, the Secretary said that “Recently, we joined many others in the General Assembly in reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to sovereignty over their territory (UNGA Resolution “Status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem). This resolution expresses the international community’s determination to contribute to the achievement of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the attainment of a just and comprehensive negotiated peace in the Middle East resulting in two viable, sovereign and independent states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.”

The Secretary also said that NAM has an important role to play in the search for peace in the Middle East. “As a member of the Movement currently sitting as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, the Philippines will continue to abide by NAM’s principles and work for the realization of our common vision.  I am glad to see other members of the NAM Caucus in the UNSC represented here,” the Secretary said.

“We believe that NAM has an important role to play in all this.  We support the idea of establishing a NAM Ministerial Delegation, to work with the members of the Quartet and other stakeholders on helping find that elusive peace in the Middle East,” the Secretary said. END.