YouSaid · the spoken record

Alberto Gatmaitan Romulo,

lines on the record: 34
first: 2005-09-24
most recent: 2009-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“The Philippines is deeply honoured to assist and cooperate with all nations in the task of building a future where peace and prosperity reign unceasingly for the benefit of all humankind.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In crises and emergencies around the world, we must do more collectively to alleviate suffering and to help nations and communities to achieve self-sustaining peace. The Philippines will continue to be active in United Nations peacekeeping. Indeed, the Philippines has become one of the largest contributors of individual police officers to United Nations peacekeeping operations. More than 600 of our peacekeepers are serving with distinction around the world. Next month, we will send a battalion in support 09-52470 60 of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, in the Golan Heights. We stand on the cusp of history. It is in our hands, here at the United Nations, to shape the changes and trends necessary to bequeath to succeeding generations a lasting legacy of a world of greater justice, compassion and well-being.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In 2006, we also launched the global Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, which is headquartered in New York and made up of 54 Governments, 15 United Nations agencies and 110 religious non-governmental organizations represented at the United Nations. To reinforce that effort, the Philippines will host the first special Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ministerial meeting on interfaith dialogue and cooperation for peace and development in Manila this December. We are pleased to invite all United Nations Members and other interested nations to that important seminal meeting. (spoke in Spanish) The spirit of multilateralism and prudent realism also requires that we support United Nations peacekeeping efforts.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The urgency of the matter has prompted the Philippines and many partner nations and organizations to promote greater interfaith dialogue, both within the United Nations system as well as at regional and national levels. By building bridges of understanding, that global advocacy enhances peace and development. Every year, the Philippines has submitted to the United Nations a draft resolution calling for interreligious and intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace. The General Assembly has always adopted it unanimously. Also at the United Nations, we initiated the holding of the Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace, which includes countries from every region of the world.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Manila Declaration on Green Industry in Asia and the Framework of Action adopted at the Conference promote the integration of sustainable development into industrial development processes for the transition to resource-efficient and low-carbon industries. We hope that elements of the Manila Declaration will provide input for Copenhagen as well. The international community must also focus on the urgent need to reduce tension and conflict fuelled by perceived differences between religions, faiths and civilizations. If left unattended, such conflict can fester, causing greater tension and untold human suffering and violence, which extremists can exploit.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“They must also assist developing countries to mitigate and adapt to worsening climate change by fulfilling their Framework Convention obligations to provide technological and financial support. As a coordinator of the G-77 in the talks, the Philippines will continue to work with all parties to help to ensure a positive outcome in Copenhagen. The Philippines is doing its part to advance that vital global agenda. We recently enacted a landmark law to promote the development and use of renewable energy resources, especially biofuels. Earlier this month, the Philippines also hosted the International Conference on Green Industry in Asia.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“We urge all nations to accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, and to avoid unfair restrictions on, and unfair treatment of, migrants. We must carry the momentum of the Summit on Climate Change, held here in New York, forward into the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on the road to Copenhagen this December. The world expects nothing less from us. The Philippines therefore calls on the developed countries concerned to present their firm post-Kyoto greenhouse gas emission targets, taking into account the ideal levels suggested by the scientific community.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Furthermore, the voice of the developing world must now be fully heard in reforming international financial and development institutions so that we can forge a more equitable and stable global economic system to avoid future crises. Global migrants are among the groups most adversely affected by the crisis. The international community therefore has a shared responsibility to ensure their protection, taking into full account the special vulnerabilities of the gender and family dimensions of the issue. The second Global Forum on Migration and Development, which the Philippines was privileged to chair in Manila, reinforced that important message by focusing on the human face of migration and on the human rights and empowerment of migrants.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development, which was held in this very Hall last June, presented Member States with lines of action that we must take now to stimulate the global economy, improve regulation and monitoring and reform processes and institutions to prevent any recurrence of the crisis. We view the Global Jobs Pact put forward by the International Labour Organization, which was endorsed by the Economic and Social Council this past July, as another important step towards recovering from the crisis. We reiterate our call on all countries to resist 59 09-52470 protectionism in order to expand trade and investment flows. We also call on developed nations to maintain their commitments with regard to official development assistance.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“The Philippines and many other nations are implementing stimulus packages, accelerated employment-generation programmes and enhanced social safety nets. In the Philippines we have strengthened our banking sector and fiscal position through tough reforms that have blunted the full force of the global crisis. The Philippines is one of the few economies that continues to have positive growth in its gross domestic product. However, we cannot ignore the impact of the global crisis elsewhere in our interdependent world. The Philippines therefore joins other nations in the General Assembly in calling for a united effort in the United Nations to act for the common good of all our peoples.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“In that spirit, we reiterate our call for the few remaining countries that have not yet done so to accede both to the CTBT and the NPT, in order to give greater hope for lasting peace and security for our world. The global financial and economic crisis is placing intolerable strain on the poorest of the poor and undermining years of efforts to attain internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs, and to combat ill-health and hunger. The crisis has been accompanied by increases in unemployment, with concomitant declining incomes and demand. The International Labour Organization estimates that unemployment could rise by 50 million by the end of 2009, thereby bringing the global unemployment rate to more than 7 per cent.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“President Obama has announced that he will lead the United States to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which is another key pillar of the global disarmament and NPT system. In addition, the United States and Russia are making headway, under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, to reduce their deployed nuclear warheads and delivery systems beyond the Treaty’s upcoming expiry in December. In addition, the South-East Asia Nuclear- Weapon-Free-Zone and other regional nuclear-weapon- free zones are continuing to reinforce the NPT system. Those positive developments inspire the Philippines in steering the Review Conference to conduct negotiations and consultations in an open and transparent manner.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“And the fifth has to do with reducing the number of conflicts and expanding mutual understanding and respect through greater interfaith and inter-civilizational dialogue. (spoke in English) Nuclear weapons and their technology are a threat to international peace and security, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is our central mechanism to contain, and eventually eliminate, that threat. The May 2010 NPT Review Conference, over which the Philippines will preside, will be the next opportunity for all of us to act on that matter in a concerted manner. We can be encouraged by certain recent developments on that front. A constructive atmosphere prevailed during the meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the Review Conference.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Our march of progress must not stall — not on our watch and not while we have the will, the vision and the means to build a better world inspired by a shared commitment to justice, fairness, non-discrimination, progress and peace. We should do so by focusing on the five great challenges of our time. The first challenge pertains to promoting nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The second involves managing the global crisis to encourage equitable recovery, fairer globalization and faster poverty alleviation. The third entails protecting and promoting the rights of migrants, who continue to contribute to global development and the well-being of our societies. The fourth has to do with the taking of urgent measures to effectively address the adverse effects of climate change without further delay.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Nor have we resolved the climate change and food crises that oppress hundreds of millions of human beings. A large part of global development has been the result of labour, including that of migrant workers. However, despite their contributions to the global economy, many migrants remain exposed to exploitation and abuse. Moreover, the peace dividend expected from the end of the cold war never 09-52470 58 materialized, while we continue to confront nuclear proliferation and violent conflict. The shortage of aid resources and instability in trade and investment are generating a global development emergency. Many nations will not attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Development gains are being tragically lost.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“Allow me to warmly congratulate Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on his well-deserved election to preside over the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. I assure him of the full cooperation of the Philippines as he discharges the duties of his high office. We are gathered here today, in this parliament of nations, to find meaningful solutions to the conflicts and crises facing our world today. Although there are signs of global recovery, now is neither the time for complacency nor for a return to business as usual. Our drive to enhance global development has clearly slowed, while the challenges to peace remain starkly before us. Through globalization, we have witnessed unprecedented material progress and record poverty alleviation. Yet the poorest 40 per cent of the world’s population still live on less than $2 per day.”
2009-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 64 (2009)
“I still remember the words that made us dare dream of a better, more peaceful world — words heard by a child through the crackle and static of an old radio, words spoken by General Carlos P. Romulo in addressing the delegates in San Francisco in 1945. He said: “Words are more powerful than guns in the defence of human dignity. Treaties are stronger than armamented boundaries. The only impregnable line is that of human understanding.””
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Let us assess the effectiveness of our current modes of cooperation. 7 In adopting practical measures and in discovering new opportunities and addressing new threats, we must be mindful of the old hopes and enduring dreams that led to the birth of our United Nations. As a child, I listened with all innocence as my family closely followed the work of the Philippine delegation in San Francisco. I felt proud that my nation, the Philippines — the Benjamin among the founders — was part of this historic event. We were rebuilding our shattered lives and mourning our dead. Yet we held on to hope. We had hope that no country would ever again crush us with their bombs, trample us with their tanks or defile our mothers, sisters and daughters. As a nation devastated by war, we placed great hope in the United Nations.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“This is necessary to put into effect and implement multilateral commitments. Ideally, national actors should be privy to developments in the negotiating process and have the opportunity to provide their own inputs with respect to the national position to be taken. This is expected to ensure implementation and follow- up to the commitments made by our leaders. Thirdly, we must not lose sight of the need to increase congruence among national, regional and international plans of action. Keeping these in sight contributes to a faster rate of achieving these goals. National plans of action can be elevated to the regional level, whenever feasible. Fourthly, we must rethink our existing modes of international cooperation. There will be value in assessing how we have been collaborating bilaterally, regionally and multilaterally.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Six decades after San Francisco, our common humanity remains at stake. We have today another opportunity to make our United Nations succeed. Whether the issue is United Nations reform or freedom from want or fear, we must act now to ensure that the principles committed to by our leaders at this year’s summit be implemented effectively and efficiently. Allow me therefore to present at this point some practical strategies that may assist us in ensuring that we achieve our goals. Firstly, the agreed commitments should be broken down into tangible steps. Concrete benchmarks and pragmatic indicators of progress must be set. Secondly, with concrete international benchmarks, national strategies can be geared to achieving them. All concerned national actors in domestic procedures and actions should be involved.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Even before San Francisco, some key decisions had already been reached among the major Powers, primarily on the power of the veto, or what was referred to then as the “unanimity rule”. Our delegation, in concert with others, pressed for an increased role of the General Assembly. We felt that this was the balance necessary to safeguard the effectiveness of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security. We also urged wider and more equitable representation in the Security Council — an aspiration that has yet to achieve realization, and thus an advocacy that my country carries to this day. The outcome document of the High-level Plenary Meeting provides the substance upon which to strengthen the United Nations system. It should guide us well in our discussions on institutional reform.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“For 60 years, the United Nations has provided us the forum to draw up norms of conduct that take on board all our concerns. From its inception with 51 Member States in 1945, the membership has almost quadrupled to its present 191 States. While the United Nations has, time and again, adopted some reforms, at no other time has the pressure for far-reaching change been starker than it is now. The evolving global and regional security environment, ongoing conflicts in many countries that have multidimensional root causes and other flashpoints have to be addressed. It is clear that in pursuing our shared interest to preserve our common humanity, the United Nations continues to serve as our indispensable tool. It is therefore also our shared interest to strengthen it.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“While it opened opportunities, it also brought challenges that we all have to cope with. Our concern however is that just as the limitless opportunities it offered could be used to benefit humanity, it could also be used destructively. Information technology enables companies to search for lowest cost factors of production globally, operate more efficiently and pass on the benefits to consumers. However, this same technology also enables disillusioned and desperate members of society to become agents of terror and recruit adherents to their way of thinking as well as to fund their destructive activities. It is therefore in our common interest to bring together our collective strengths to take advantage of the opportunities before us as well as to confront common threats.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“We all acknowledge that the world has reached an unprecedented stage when there are virtually no more barriers, whether of space or time. Communication technology has made possible the dissemination of information instantaneously to practically all parts and corners of the globe. 6 As the nineteenth century brought us the industrial revolution, the twentieth century brought us to the technology revolution ushered in by computerization. The twenty-first century now offers infinite possibilities to further advance the information age. At no other time has the saying “no man is an island” rang truer. As the Secretary-General has said, what affects one affects all in this globalized world. However, the information age is a two-edged sword, as experience has shown us.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Our national experience has shown us the value of dialogue in our approach to consider all those factors. The Philippines wants to share this positive value of dialogue and therefore has taken the lead in drawing attention to the need for interfaith dialogue as an integral part for the promotion of the culture of peace. My President recently convened a successful informal summit on interfaith dialogue and cooperation here in the United Nations. The summit adopted a declaration calling for greater interreligious, intercultural and intercivilizational dialogue and cooperation to ensure a lasting and durable peace and understanding at the global, regional and national levels. We invite all who agree with its principles to consider endorsing the declaration.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“This is another multifaceted issue that requires international cooperation to be addressed in a coordinated and coherent manner. A comprehensive and effective international mechanism for cooperation should be drawn up to address its politico-security, social, cultural and economic development dimensions. As one of the major sending States, the Philippines stands ready to cooperate with all countries in contributing towards the formulation of effective mechanisms that would help ensure a smooth management of the migration phenomenon. The Philippines knows only too well the fear that terrorism instils in the civilian population and the anguish it brings to victims and close relatives. We take cognizance of terrorism’s political, social and economic underpinnings.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“The Philippines has proposed the consideration of the adoption of a debt conversion scheme including “debt-for-equity” or “debt-for-Millennium Development Goal projects”. The scheme calls for the conversion of 50 per cent of the debt service into equity for MDG projects of at least equal value with an income earning potential. Debt for development projects can focus on areas that would achieve MDG benchmarks such as hospitals and health care, schools, classrooms, information technology, clean water, electricity, reforestation, eco- tourism and many others that should help us achieve our MDGs by 2015. The nexus between development and international migration cannot be overlooked. Migration brings challenges and opportunities to countries of origin, destination and transit.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“International cooperation on energy is increasingly becoming an imperative as the capacity and capability of countries, particularly non- oil producing developing countries, to meet their development objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), are affected. This unavoidably impacts on security. The Philippines welcomes the 100 per cent debt cancellation for the 38 heavily indebted poor countries. However, the debt situation is expected to worsen, as middle-income countries go deeper in debt with the threat of rising world oil prices. Once more, the need for other innovative and creative means of international cooperation for debt relief also becomes imperative.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“This brings me to my central theme — that we should let the bond of our broad vision of our common humanity inspire us all to work towards a stronger United Nations for a better world. We agree with the Secretary-General that no nation can defend itself against threats entirely on its own. We agree that development, freedom from fear and human rights concerns are interrelated and should be equally considered in designing the solutions to the threats we face. We believe that because of this interrelation, these concerns should be addressed in a comprehensive and integrated manner. The world is facing the problem of unbridled spiralling of oil prices.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Poverty, the energy crisis and insufficient financial resources, compounded by debt, are the pressing challenges 5 facing my country and its people. We also face serious security threats, particularly from terrorism — with many of our citizens victimized by terrorist attacks. We recognize the economic and social underpinnings of such acts. In the not too distant past, my country also had to confront the threat of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Our national experience prompts us to agree with the Secretary-General that these global threats are all interrelated, and our different perceptions of the imminence of the threats facing us should not deter us from cooperating to address them.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“The clear challenge facing the United Nations at its inception, and particularly developing nations, was to ensure that freedom from want, freedom from fear and freedom to pursue human dignity would be at the heart of the political independence of the States. Sixty years after San Francisco, we continue to face the challenge of freeing all our peoples from want and from fear and allowing them the true dignity that they deserve as independent nations. The fight for the political and legal independence of States is over, but the fight to win for all peoples their freedom from fear and want and to pursue human dignity continues. For the Philippines, as a developing country, freedom from want is of utmost concern.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“A third of mankind was still under colonial domination. Only three Asian nations were in attendance. Most of Africa were not yet independent nations. In a forum dominated by colonial Powers, the Philippines fought to ensure the notion that the goal of the Trusteeship Council should not only be self- government but independence. When the United Nations emblem was being drawn, General Romulo asked that the Philippines, although still a commonwealth, be included. He was told that the Philippines would only be a small dot on that now familiar map. He demanded nevertheless that the dot be placed on the map. The Philippines insistence on its place on the world map, albeit just a dot, symbolized for many soon-to-be independent and developing nations the challenge facing the United Nations.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“Romulo, the head of the Philippine delegation, articulating the hopes of mankind, said then at the United Nations: “Let us make this floor the last battlefield.” Mr. Zarif (Islamic Republic of Iran), Vice- President, took the Chair. The leading lights attending the founding of the United Nations are still familiar to us — Joseph Paul Boncour of France, Wellington Koo of China, Andrei Gromyko of Russia, Lord Halifax of the United Kingdom, Edward Stettinius of the United States, His Royal Highness Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar of India, Jan Smuts of the Union of South Africa, Jan Masaryk of Czechoslovakia, Herbert Evatt of Australia, Exequiel Padilla of Mexico, and many others. Those visionaries led the historic and daunting task of writing the United Nations Charter.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)
“I convey my delegation’s felicitations on your election, Mr. President, on leading this historic session. I also wish to express our deep appreciation to Ambassador Jean Ping, whose leadership and wisdom proved to be the key to the successful negotiation and adoption of our outcome document. Sixty years ago, enduring peace was foremost in the minds of the founders of our Organization. Scarred from war and stunned by mankind’s capacity for death and destruction, they did not consider failure an option. Our common humanity demanded that we build a better and peaceful world. To do that, representatives from 50 nations gathered in San Francisco, in a building dedicated to those who defended and fought for freedom, to draft a charter that would unite the nations of the world for peace. General Carlos P.”
2005-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 60 (2005)