RP takes UNSC seat this week

The Philippines is due this week to formally take its seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the agency’s most important policy-making body, an official said Tuesday.

The country’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Lauro Baja, said the Philippine delegation was to assume the seat beginning today for a two-year term.

"We will seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make a difference in the Security Council and to promote the Filipino as a global citizen," Baja said in a statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Backed by military ally the United States, the Philippines was voted into the council in October, giving a much-needed boost to the government of President Arroyo.

The Security Council, the UN body primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security, consists of 15 members, with China, France, Russia, United King and the United States as permanent members with veto powers.

The remaining 10 are elected to two-year terms by a two-thirds vote of the 197-member General Assembly. They are not eligible for immediate re-election.

The terms of Guinea, Mexico, Syria, Bulgaria and Cameroon have already expired in December while the terms of Germany, Pakistan, Spain and Angola run until December 2004.

Others voted to the council as non-permanent members were Algeria, Benin, Brazil and Romania. They will replace five countries whose term ended in December.

The Philippines had been aiming for a seat at the UN Security Council for several months before it was elected to the seat in October but its entry to the council was blocked by some countries, particularly Pakistan. — AFP