Phl joins global fight vs weapons of mass destruction

WASHINGTON – The Philippines has joined a global partnership which seeks to prevent terrorists or states that support them from acquiring or developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the first Southeast Asian country to do so.

The US State Department, in a statement on Monday, welcomed the Philippines as the 26th member of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction.

It said Philippine membership marked an important expansion of Southeast Asian representation in the Global Partnership, a subsidiary body of the Group of 8 of the world’s wealthiest countries which, among other things, addresses nuclear and radiological security, biosecurity and chemical security.

Established at the 2002 summit of the G8 as a 10-year, $20-billion worldwide initiative, the Global Partnership is tasked to enhance WMD security to include locking down vulnerable weapons and materials, destroying Russian nuclear submarines and chemical weapons and export controls.

At the 2011 G8 Summit in Deauville, France, leaders agreed to extend the Global Partnership beyond 2012 and to make it truly global.

The membership of the Philippines is an important step in this progress, the State Department said.

Other Global Partnership members are Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States. – With Pia Lee-Brago