AFP deploys another batch of peacekeepers to Haiti

MANILA, Philippines - After recently pulling the Filipino contingent from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights in the Syria-Israel border, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) dispatched yesterday another batch of peacekeepers to Haiti.

In line with its continuing commitment to UN peacekeeping operations, the AFP deployed 157 troops, including nine women, from the Navy and Marines, led by Commander Aldrin Doctor.

The Filipino peacekeepers left yesterday on board a UN-chartered flight with AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang sending them off at the Philippine Air Force base at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

Catapang told the troops to maintain the highest standards in all their actions as Filipino peacekeepers in Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating earthquake.

“We Filipinos don’t want to bring disgrace to the country anywhere in the world. It’s our source of national pride. So you have to maintain the highest standards,” Catapang told the departing 18th Filipino UN contingent.

Navy spokesman Lt. Commander Marideth Domingo said the peacekeepers’ main duty is to provide perimeter security to the Force Headquarters of the UN Mission to Haiti, provide administrative and logistics clerical services to the Force Headquarters, operate military vehicles and secure key personalities.

The group’s tour of duty will be six to nine months.

They will replace the 17th Filipino peacekeeping force composed of 11 officers and 145 enlisted personnel headed by Capt. Luzviminda Camacho, the first female Filipino officer deployed in the strife-torn nation.

Over the weekend, the AFP has completed the withdrawal of an entire battalion of Army peacekeepers assigned to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights.