Philippines underscores importance of UN Pact for Future

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines underscored the importance of a landmark declaration approved by world leaders on Sunday on action guidelines for the international community to resolve global issues.

Manila welcomed the Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations and hailed them as “triumph of the persistence of multilateralism to affirm that a better world is possible, with the solidarity of nations.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said the Pact for the Future “renews collective determination to defuse tensions and seek the peaceful resolution of disputes and conflicts.”

“In pledging to the Pact, states abide by the obligation of rejecting force and the threat of use of force to settle disputes,” Manalo said.

Manalo is the head of the Philippine delegation to the Summit of the Future, the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week and other related meetings from Sept. 22-29 at the UN headquarters in New York.

The Summit of the Future, a high-level event, brings world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how to deliver a better world for present and future generations.

Under the theme “Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow,” the summit aims to strengthen global cooperation in addressing the most pressing challenges of our time.

“The Pact binds us in words and in action, bridging the collective hopes of the past with our contemporary aspirations, with the UN Charter anchoring our will,” he said.

The secretary said multilateralism, with the UN at the center, flourishes on the grounds of a rules-based order that provides conditions for trust, solidarity, equity and peace.

“Respect for the rule of law safeguards global peace and security and enables the international community to confront complex current and future challenges together,” he stressed.

The pact can guide the UN in delivering meaningful outcomes for peace and security, for human rights, for fairness and equality, for resilience from crises and disasters and for empowering individuals and all communities in the world.

“As a founding member of the UN and the first Asian republic, the Philippines shall always be a voice for peace, equity and justice, human rights and human dignity, the rule of law and constructive multilateralism,” he added.

The Pact along with its annexes, the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations, was adopted by consensus, despite a last-minute proposal for an amendment by some countries, including Russia, Iran, North Korea and Syria.

The amendment sought to incorporate text calling for non-intervention in any issue of national sovereignty and the primacy of intergovernmental deliberation, in effect, downplaying the role of civil society or private sector interests. It was rejected after the 193-member assembly decided not to act on the proposal.

Manalo will deliver the Philippine national statement during the UNGA General Debate and present the Philippines’ advocacies and priorities in line with the agenda of the UN General Assembly’s 79th Session.