Focus on Iraq’s reconstruction, Palace urges UN

Instead of again debating the Iraq war issue in the United Nations, President Arroyo said yesterday the world should focus on how to reunite and rebuild Iraq after the fall of the "tyrannical" regime of Saddam Hussein.

"We have already made our stand on that. We are not engaged in debate anymore because it’s already there. Whatever we say, that is the reality for us, a reality that we expected," the President said in an interview with the GMA-7 news program "Front Page."

Mrs. Arroyo made the remark when she was asked if the Philippines would consider withdrawing its support for the so-called "coalition of the willing" after the Arab League called for the immediate withdrawal of Allied forces in Iraq.

"Although we’re far from the fighting, we can see that all of us in the world are affected. This war is a reality for us," she said.

The President cited United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, whom she quoted as saying: "Let us put behind the things that have divided us and let us move forward on the things that unite us."

"Those who don’t have jobs can always debate but, as president, my job is to ensure the safety of our people in the Middle East and to ensure the safety of our people here in the Philippines against terrorism," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo explained that her administration joined the "coalition of the willing" to prevent the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons that could end up in the hands of Filipino terrorists in Mindanao.

"We are part of the coalition in order to remove from Iraq weapons of mass destruction which can be brought here and used by terrorists to attack civilians," she said. "This is the connection of the war in Iraq to our active defense of Mindanao communities against lawless elements."

The President conceded that the price of joining the "coalition of the willing" is the country’s vulnerability to "collateral" and terror attacks.

"So this is what we want to say, Filipino-Americans fighting in Iraq and Filipinos fighting in Mindanao are fighting the same enemy — terrorism," she said.

"We are together. Filipino-Americans are part of our political and socio-economic lives. We are proud of them. We are proud of their faith, solidarity and courage. And with them, we shall win over all the forces of tyranny," Mrs. Arroyo said.

But Senator Manuel Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, cautioned Malacañang against giving full support to US actions even without United Nations approval or making any move to discredit the UN.

"As a small country we need to strengthen the UN, we must not be a part to any action to discredit or destroy it," Villar told reporters during the weekly Fernandina Forum in Greenhills, San Juan.

He said the ongoing war in Iraq has actually eroded the integrity of the UN and threatens global peace. — With Perseus Echeminada