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Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Muslim lawmakers buck sending RP peace team to Mideast
MANILA -- Instead of sending a peacekeeping force in Lebanon, some Muslim congressmen, both from the administration and the opposition, urged the House leadership to come up with a clear position on whether it supports or condemns the ongoing attacks of Israel on Lebanon.
"The House should come up with a clear position first whether it supports or condemns Israel over its recent attacks on Lebanon where more than 30 persons, including children, were killed. Are we going to condemn it or not? Not that we should consider sending a peacekeeping force that will put our countrymen in harm's way," said party-list Representative Mujib Hataman of Anak Mindanao.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia over the weekend proposed that a small peacekeeping force should be sent to Lebanon to help the United Nations (UN) in its efforts to end the hostilities between Israel and Lebanon, and to act as "shields" for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) trapped in the war-torn Lebanon.
"What is the peacekeeping force for when the UN itself is being ignored by the Israeli? In the first place what role will we play there?" Hataman said.
Hataman also urged fellow Muslim lawmakers to come up with a single position on the matter if the House leadership refuses to make known its position.
Pro-administration legislator Faysah Dumarpa, for her part, said Muslims in the country will not hesitate to respond positively if and when the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) arrives at a decision to invade Israel.
"Many Filipino Muslims are willing to finance over a thousand of our fighters to join an Islamic invasion of Israel if the OIC asks for it. The UN must now act to stop the Lebanon carnage," Dumarpa said in a press statement.
But Hataman shunned the idea raised by Dumarpa. "This war cannot be put to an end by another war. My position here is for the Muslims to resist (the attacks) but not to the extent of sacrificing lives of innocent civilians."
Hataman called on all Muslims in the country "to support the fight of Lebanese and Palestinian people in protecting the sacredness and holiness of their lives, properties and lands."
Another party-list legislator, Risa Hontiveros of Akbayan, echoed observations made by Hataman that there is no need for the country to send a small contingent to war-torn Lebanon.
"We have been mistreating our soldiers by fielding them as underpaid and ill-equipped peacekeepers in conflict-prone areas. We fear that our troops will only be exposed to grave danger if we send them to Lebanon," she said.
Hontiveros filed a resolution on Monday seeking an investigation of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) policies on joining UN peacekeeping missions and the alleged misuse of the UN Support Fund for peacekeeping.
Meanwhile, 172 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) arrived on Monday in 11 separate flights at the Terminals 1 and 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, bring to 18 the number of batches of repatriated Filipinos.
The biggest group to arrive was composed of 74 Filipinos aboard PR 337 at 7:30 p.m.
The first group to land was composed of 10 OFWs aboard Qatar Airways Flight QR 644 at about 4:30 a.m. at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) 1. Last to arrive were 11 Filipinos aboard Cathay Pacific Flight CX 905 at 11:35 p.m.
Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilbert Asuque said that on Wednesday, the 19th batch of 450 OFWs aboard Orient Thai Airways OEA 7444 from Bangkok will arrive ay around 2:30 pm.
This will be the first biggest single batch of returnees whose airfares will be shouldered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM will also facilitate the flight of another batch of 450 OFWs on Friday onboard OEA 7447. The group is expected to arrive at 1:30 p.m. while on Sunday the 21st batch of another 450 OFWs would have reached Manila aboard OEA 7448 at 8:30 a.m., also courtesy of IOM.
The repatriates will be welcomed at the Villamor Air Base Operation Center.
"By the 21st batch, we should have a total of 2,687 returnees," Asuque said. (DBP/ECV/Sunnex)
(August 1, 2006 issue)
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