Manila assumes UN Security Council presidency

The Philippines’ debt-for-development proposal is one of the initiatives to be discussed next month when Manila assumes the presidency of the United Nations Security Council, the Philippine Mission to the UN said yesterday.

The proposal has been gaining wide reception and acceptance among various groups.

Philippine permanent representative to the UN Ambassador Lauro Baja Jr. said the country would also push the debt-for-equity proposal during the UN General Assembly in New York next month.

"Expectations from the Philippines have been raised but we will build upon our previous successes. The Mission is now in full swing with negotiations and preparation of position papers and outcome documents," Baja said.

With its debt-for-equity proposal, Manila is urging developed nations to allow developing and heavily indebted countries to channel meager resources to development projects and priorities rather than allotting them to service burgeoning debts.

Baja said the Philippines would again take center stage next month when it assumes the presidency of the Security Council and possibly chairs a summit of the leaders of the 15-member states that make up the most powerful organ of the UN.

The Philippine Mission said that Filipino diplomats are proposing this as the highlight of several high-level meetings that President Arroyo and other Philippine officials would attend in September.

"A successful Philippine presidency of the Security Council in September, including a possible summit meeting, will cap our two-year membership in this vital organ of the United Nations," Baja said.

This will be the second time for the Philippines to head the Security Council since assuming its elected seat in January 2004.

Aside from the proposed Security Council summit, Baja said Mrs. Arroyo would also be joining other heads of state and governments in the 2005 World Summit, the 60th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, and the ASEAN-United Nations Summit, all scheduled to take place from Sept. 12 to 16.

Baja added that other Philippine initiatives will be discussed in September, particularly the Informal Summit on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, which the President will chair and the Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments, which will also be joined by Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. and Senate President Franklin Drilon.

Baja said at least 16 heads of state or governments which support the Philippine initiative on inter-religious dialogue first proposed by De Venecia last year will attend the informal summit on interfaith cooperation. The summit is an offshoot of the successful Tripartite Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace held last June 22 and chaired by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.

Romulo disclosed that the World Bank has agreed to seriously study the Philippines’ application for debt-for-development swaps. The commitment was made by WB President Paul Wolfowitz himself when he met Romulo in Washington D last June.

During the meeting, Romulo said Wolfowitz expressed optimism and continued support by the WB for the economic and fiscal reform of the Philippine government.

The revenue generating measures adopted by the government are expected to provide up to almost $2 billion in annual revenues. The new measures are also expected to encourage tax and custom workers to intensify collections, administrative reforms to improve tax collection and pass a fiscally responsible budget.

Romulo thanked Wolfowitz for the WB’s grants, assistance and loans for the development of Mindanao, the improvement of the Philippine judicial system and government auditing procedures.

According to Romulo, the WB plays a central role in the $40 million Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund for Peace and Development Project that started in 2002 and helps reduce poverty and promote durable peace in the ARMM region.

The five-year project empowers communities by providing water supply and sanitation systems, small-scale irrigation, health stations, learning centers and post-harvest facilities.