DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                                           2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                                 Tel. No. 834-4000 
SFA-AGR-001-65                                                                                                                                                                                                                02 January 2006

RP SPECIAL ENVOY ATTENDS ACEH TSUNAMI 1ST YEAR MEMORIAL RITES

2 January 2005—The Philippines, together with some 36 other countries, joined Indonesia in commemorating the first year anniversary on 26 December 2005 of the tsunami tragedy in Aceh, the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Charge d’ Affaires, a.i. Bernardita L. Catalla said General Efren L. Abu, designated by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as her Special Envoy to the event, conveyed the President's solidarity with the Indonesian Government in honoring and remembering the more than 150,000 Indonesians who perished in the tragedy on 26 December 2004.

Special Envoy Abu also expressed the continued commitment of the Philippines in assisting Indonesia in the reconstruction of areas devastated by the tsunami.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led the ceremony attended by Special Envoy Abu and other foreign dignitaries, including President Xanana Gusmao of Timor Leste and Cabinet Ministers from Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Viet Nam.

A siren, from an early warning device, sounded at 0816 (local time), the exact time the first waves hit Aceh a year ago.   As the siren waited, a moment of prayer and silence was observed in honor of the dead and the missing.

After the ceremony, Special Envoy Abu and other foreign dignitaries accompanied President Yudhoyono in LoK Ngah District and had lunch with the people of Aceh

The status of the on-going rebuilding projects was discussed in the meeting of the foreign envoys with officials of the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), the Indonesian government office in-charge of the reconstruction work In the country's tsunami-hit areas

CDA Catalla said Special Envoy Abu also took the opportunity to meet the members of the Philippine Government contingent to the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) tasked to assist in the implementation of the peace agreement between the Indonesian Government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

CDA Catalla accompanied the President’s Special Envoy to the commemorative rites in Aceh. END
 
 

/jay