YouSaid · the spoken record

Domingo Siazon

lines on the record: 83
first: 1996-09-24
most recent: 2000-09-24
sittings or episodes: 4
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 world's people took heart from the boldness of spirit and resolve our leaders expressed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. They were reassured that we intend to take the world into the future as partners and not as adversaries. They wished for clear direction from our leaders, and they received it. Now, they look to us in this Millennium Assembly for concrete action. Let us rise to the challenge and build the bridges to peace and prosperity for all the united nations.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We must ensure its success to help our brothers and sisters in Africa, in landlocked developing countries, in nations particularly vulnerable to natural disasters and in least developed countries in all regions of the world. At this Assembly, we should do our utmost to guarantee that all preparations necessary for the success of this conference are made. We must also redeem the pledge of our leaders to make every effort to ensure the success of the high- level international and intergovernmental event on financing for development in 2001. By investing this event with the active participation, goodwill and expertise of all stakeholders, including the private sector, from the preparatory stages to the plan's implementation, we may yet achieve what several United Nations Development Decades have not.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“What we need is a new deal for the poor countries. Development is particularly difficult for countries saddled by mountains of crippling debt. Some 1.6 trillion dollars is now owed by developing countries, several of which have to use up to 95 per cent of their hard currency revenues to service debt. In the meantime, development assistance is declining. This year, grants to developing countries may total 40 billion US dollars — a mere half of what it was a quarter century ago. As earnest for our collective future, we should have meaningful debt relief for the world's heavily indebted poor countries immediately. Let us also see the fulfilment of the promises of overseas development assistance (ODA) made three decades ago. Further steps must be taken at the third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries next year.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“For in this global village, cooperation is the only tenable way to bridge experience and vision. The United Nations Millennium Declaration embodies our collective hope: the promise of a true community of nations working together for a more peaceful, prosperous and just world. We know that between this promise and its fulfilment lies a tortuous road, yet we must tread its length. In this journey, the first and most important step we should take is to remove the greatest source of danger and discord, that is, underdevelopment. For if one is not free of want, he cannot be free of fear. In the developing world, the toll from decades of turmoil and abject underdevelopment has been so debilitating that only international relief can help some of us back to our feet. Many of us may cry for safety nets. But not even fish welcome life inside a net.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“For our goal is not only to have a borderless world for unfettered trade and investment. We should found a global economic regime that builds productive capacities, not income gaps; that promotes openness, not corruption; that rewards enterprise, not greed. In all these, partnerships with the private sector and with civil society are indispensable. Every man, women and child is our co-stakeholder and partner. For what we are trying to build is a new global order where human security goes beyond mere military security; where law upholds human dignity and both people and State uphold the law; and where political pluralism and cultural diversity are requisite to the attainment of common human objectives. In other words, peace and prosperity must rest more on human cooperation than on anything else.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Towards this end, we must support the Secretary- General's call to convene a conference on nuclear dangers, actively participate in the 2001 small arms conference, negotiate a comprehensive convention against terrorism and progressively improve weapons and arms budget transparency measures. The central role of the United Nations does not and should not stop at matters of international peace and security. It should also be at the heart of our efforts to promote prosperity for all. It should lead the charge against poverty and the efforts to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day. Along with the Bretton Woods institutions and other multilateral organizations and fora, the United Nations is well placed to make important contributions to the reform of global economic and financial systems.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Preventive diplomacy must be our principal tool in warding off conflict. We must reduce the use of force. But where we need to use it, as in self-defence or under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, we should be guided by international legal norms and practice. United Nations peacekeeping operations should be prosecuted with clear and well-defined mandates, adequate resources and strong international support wherever they take place. The report of the Brahimi Panel on United Nations Peace Operations deserves our urgent and careful consideration. More than ever, the United Nations must now gather together the political will of all nations to bring about the final stage of disarmament and the much- awaited arrival of a nuclear-weapon-free world.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Let us build this human bridge to our future, now. The United Nations has both the experience and the vision needed for success. Our Organization has both the privilege and the duty to lead our world into the future with confidence. We know how to do it. To sustain the United Nations capacity to carry out its tasks, deep institutional reforms must now take place. A more energetic and financially stable world Organization, led by a proactive General Assembly and strengthened by a truly representative and transparent Security Council, must now emerge. For the new covenant on peace to prosper, the United Nations must remain, without equivocation or doubt, the first and last peacemaker and peacekeeper of the world. It should also be the vanguard that champions the rule of law in international as well as in internal affairs.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Let us buckle down to work and ensure that by 2015 all children will be able to complete primary schooling and, beyond that date, that they have the opportunities to pursue higher levels of education. For let us face it, education is the best tool for protecting human rights, promoting democracy and advancing good governance. But because a sound mind will work better in a sound body, let us win the battle against disease, including HIV/AIDS, which lays to waste millions in the world's poorest regions. Let us take action to drastically reduce maternal and under-five child mortality from their horrendous current rates and to achieve the lofty goals of the “Cities Without Slums” initiative. Let us invest in humanity. Let us launch in this Assembly nothing short of a Marshall Plan for the world's people.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
““Wiring” the world's cities into the information grid of the twenty-first century is indeed one wise investment we should be making today. But if anyone were left out, if the “digital device” were but to echo and perpetuate social injustice on a global scale, we would not have moved far from where we started. The past would simply repeat itself. To empower people is to build our bridge to the future. The world's leaders were therefore on the mark when they enshrined freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility as the fundamental, people-empowering values of the twenty-first century. Now, it is this Assembly's turn to employ those values and take steps to achieve the specific objectives set by the Summit for people empowerment.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“For the average person then a truly global community was no more than an ideal, remote and all but removed from the day-to-day lives of mostly rural, agricultural populations. Now we are all part of the global village. Interdependence is a recognized and accepted fact. “Globalization” is on the lips of everyone, sometimes with scorn, at other times with affection, but always with the discernment that it is the wave of the future. Above all else, that future belongs to all the world's people, to both the affluent and the destitute, to both the strong and the weak. With everyone's direct involvement in charting and realizing our common 10 destiny, we open the door to the fullest flowering of humanity's potential. We also affirm human dignity.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly must reflect the new global covenant for peace and progress. As always, the United Nations must be at the forefront of this great enterprise. We are here to lead. The Philippine delegation sees this Millennium Assembly as a bridge to link three divides: those of the past and the future; of experience and vision; and of promise and fulfilment. Fifty-five years ago our Organization arose from the ashes of war. Some founding Member States were very young, just recently set free from centuries of colonial rule. All were still preoccupied with tasks of rebuilding lives and neighbourhoods shattered by the Great War. The ideological divide was to become deeper and wider. The foundations for the walls and curtains that defined an era were just being laid.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The twentieth century was one of great trials and great achievements. The new century will be what we make of it. Whatever has been won in the name of peace, the hunting season in history is not quite over. Tension between nations has not disappeared. Ethnic strife, religious extremism, economic inequity and social injustice continue to fuel conflict. Agents of terror and transnational criminals strike everywhere. Despite the new wealth of nations, 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day. The 32 poorest African countries do not earn much more than the richest man on earth. And, despite the grinding poverty of billions, the world spends $145 per capita on military forces. We must do better — much better — than this. Our Organization received the needed impetus at last week's Millennium Summit. That should not be squandered.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The Philippines believes that to achieve this, we must start at home, in our own regions. We must, in appropriate circumstances, be more open to hearing the views of others and offering our own, even on issues deemed too controversial. A new openness would reflect the boldness with which we should renew the promise of a new era. The United Nations proved its great worth in this century. Its continued success in the next will depend entirely on us, on the goals we hope to achieve with it, on 12 what we are willing to invest in it. After all, we are the United Nations.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Reforms should not only seek to make the United Nations more efficient; they should make it truly responsive to the new demands of international peace, security and development. The Security Council, with its wide mandate and leadership role, should be at the centre of change and reform itself. It should be truly representative, democratic, transparent and accountable. The use of the veto should be rationalized. The day may come when we shall have achieved consensus on the reforms that we wish for our Organization. The day may also come — and soon I hope — that the financial morass our Organization is in will have passed. But while these are critical to the very survival of the United Nations, the continued existence of our Organization would be far more meaningful if we could invest it with a new openness and greater trust.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“As President Estrada has said: Our way of life, our fundamental values and our institutions can flourish and find true expression only if we enjoy political stability, economic solidarity, socio-cultural cohesion, moral consensus and ecological balance, at home and with our partners in the world. Our national security and development” [or in short, our national interest] “demand that we actively advance the internationally shared goals of freedom, openness, peace, prosperity and justice.” (A/53/PV.17, p.6) After the events of the last year, we are more convinced that the collective interest, our common interest, is my country’s national interest. The need to reform the United Nations is our common interest.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Last year, before this Assembly, I articulated Philippine policy, thus: “Like all other States, the Philippines pursues foreign policy to promote national security and development. But we view national security beyond the traditional concerns of sovereignty and territorial integrity. For in a global regime characterized by evolving multipolarity of political and military power and by growing economic and financial interdependence, with all their attendant opportunities and risks, my nation’s peace and prosperity increasingly depend on stability and growth abroad.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“These developments need not even be seen as parallel, as in they do not meet; for in truth, they converge. But we agree with the Secretary-General that the more important question is how the United Nations — the only truly universal, if imperfect, arm of the international community — is to respond to the political, human rights and humanitarian crises affecting so much of the world. We have to be more innovative in our approaches to problems relating to massive and systematic human rights violations. We agree that empowering the United Nations enough to match its Charter mandates in today’s and tomorrow’s world requires that we, the Member States, update our concept of national interest.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“And thirdly, perhaps more important, we need to invest our work and way of thinking with greater flexibility and innovation. The nature of conflict has changed. Crises and humanitarian situations now involve many more actors, from Governments and international organizations to non- State players. And their effects, just like their causes, are more complex and far-reaching. Let us face it, much of what was considered before as the internal affairs of a State is not so any more — or ever. Humanity is indivisible. Peace is indivisible. State sovereignty is important; it will always be. So is individual sovereignty. That the redefinition of one should coincide with the renewed consciousness of the other is, to my delegation, not an accident.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“In the first instance, we need to invest a lot of goodwill and build trust in one another so that clearer criteria and a more predictable basis can guide Security Council authorization for all types of peace missions. We realize that no two situations are the same, but inaction due to stalemates in the Council, in the face of serious threats to peace and human life, threatens the credibility, legitimacy and future effectiveness of our Organization. Secondly, the Organization and its Member States need to invest in practical steps that can be taken in the areas of training assistance, joint peacekeeping exercises, greater participation in standby arrangements, partnerships between countries whose contingents require equipment support and those able to provide it, and closer cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We have seen this in the efforts of the ASEAN troika, the United Nations and the international community to restore political stability in Cambodia, and in the dispatch of a multinational force to East Timor with authorization from the Security Council and upon the invitation of the Indonesian Government. We agree with the Secretary-General that it is necessary and desirable to provide support for regional and subregional arrangements and initiatives on matters of international peace and security. The United Nations, lacking the capacity, resources and expertise to address all issues unique to each region of the world, should complement rather than supplant regional peace efforts. This, however, will require significant investment from all of us.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We are also heartened by the agreements reached recently in Sierra Leone and the Congo, and between Eritrea and Ethiopia. We hope that the resolution of the immediate crisis in Kosovo will soon create the conditions conducive to the establishment of lasting peace there. It is true that we have avoided major inter-State conflicts of late, and that States are more willing to resolve disputes peacefully. But the continuing tensions in various regions of the world could still draw nations into conflict and divert attention and resources away from development. For the Philippines, regional cooperation provides a key to managing potential and actual conflict situations.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“We therefore welcome Indonesia’s decision to invite the assistance of the United Nations and of a multinational force, and its creation of a national commission of inquiry to investigate and bring to justice persons responsible for the atrocities and human rights violations in East Timor. We also commend the Secretary-General and the neighbouring and other countries for responding quickly to restore order and facilitate humanitarian relief in East Timor. As a fraternal neighbour of the peoples of Indonesia and East Timor, we will contribute all we can to ameliorate the humanitarian situation and put back on track a peaceful transition. Elsewhere, the Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement is a positive development for the Middle East peace process.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“At the sixth ASEAN Regional Forum — the only forum on security that includes all the major Powers with a stake in our region — we agreed to draft rules of procedure by which preventive diplomacy could bolster and complement regional confidence-building measures. Last December we agreed to move closer to the full activation of the ASEAN High Council and the dispute settlement mechanisms mandated by the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. The 5 May 1999 Agreement on East Timor and the free, fair and orderly conduct of the 30 August consultations there are truly significant developments for lasting peace in our region. For the Philippines, it is of the utmost importance that the chaos there be quickly resolved and the horrendous human suffering be stanched.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The situation in the Taiwan Strait is a concern to us all. So are the issues of missile development in the Korean peninsula and nuclear development and uneasy peace in South Asia. The South China Sea remains a potential flashpoint. We are hopeful that, in addition to measures advancing regional economic and financial cooperation, a regional code of conduct in the South China Sea can be adopted at the summit of leaders of ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea that we are hosting in Manila in November. East Asia has clearly not yet settled all its great issues of war and peace. But we are trying hard and succeeding in some important ways.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“But, as our recent experience in East Asia shows, economic progress alone cannot and does not engender the optimal well-being of nations or peoples. Progress in ensuring political stability and security should accompany growth. Any asymmetry in the pace, breadth and depth of change in these facets of the political economy is a seed of future instability. Moreover, just as our economic prospects are determined by our participation in the global economy, our future peace and security will depend not only on our internal resilience, but also on the active cooperation of others. In East Asia the most urgent undertaking for ensuring peace is the reconfiguration of the strategic security structure in the region. The holes left gaping by the end of the cold war must be filled; the new parameters of the regional security equation must be defined.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“And it heartens us that the East Asia-Latin America Forum, having recently taken its first steps, may soon join in the more sustained and structured effort to link up for global progress. The Philippines anticipates a similar region-to-region initiative with Africa and will contribute its utmost to any such initiative. From a historical perspective, we are still at the very early stage of globalization. With globalization having the potential to grow exponentially, as do the revolutions in 10 technology and information that fuel it, this early stage is perhaps the most critical one. Only earnest international cooperation can ensure that this process does not lead to the marginalization of any nation.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“There is urgent need, as the Committee for Development Policy pointed out in its 1998 report to the Economic and Social Council, for the coherent development and effective monitoring of international standards and codes of conduct for private financial management and capital flows. There is also need to curb destructive competition and inconsistency in national regulatory frameworks. More and more, countries and regions need to reach out to one another in the spirit of cooperation and partnership for development. The ten-year-old Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, or APEC, is founded on this conviction. So is the much younger Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Insecure market access, high levels of protection and support of agriculture in industrialized countries and the continued high tariffs on industrial products from developing countries obviate greater progress for all. The international trading system must adopt a new paradigm in which sustainable development should be the central theme. The World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference to be held in Seattle late this year should be not only an opportunity to launch a new round of multilateral trade negotiations. It should also be an occasion to imbue the process with a sense of direction that responds to the development needs of developing countries. The global financial architecture must be strengthened.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Realizing early on that the phenomenon of globalization should be addressed multilaterally, the United Nations has sought the cooperation of other multilateral organizations to strengthen normative, legal and institutional frameworks in the hope that the global economy can be managed more effectively and, perhaps more importantly, more equitably. For the yawning gap between poor and rich nations continues to widen, and the pace and level of development of countries are, alas, more uneven. In a fast-globalizing and interdependent world, augmenting the ability of developing countries to participate fully in the global economy is the win-win solution for all.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“During its Hanoi summit last year, ASEAN resolved to accelerate, not retard, the establishment of the ASEAN free trade area to the year 2002. We are accelerating the implementation of the ASEAN Investment Area and ASEAN Industrial Cooperation schemes. We have also moved towards greater financial cooperation by establishing at the Asian Development Bank a regional economic monitoring and surveillance mechanism. It should encourage transparency, institute better coordination of economic policies and help ward off future financial crises. However, internal reforms cannot be enough. The crisis also exposed the weaknesses lurking in the international system.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“A propensity for high savings, abundant highly educated human resources, higher productivity and economic reform policies remain. Today, East Asia is on the road to recovery. Consumer confidence is rising. Exports are booming. Inflation has been tamed. Investors are coming back. Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are all growing again. The Philippine economy will grow by more than 3 percent this year and over 5 percent next year. Yet, there is no retreat on our core reform agenda. Economic restructurings continue. Greater economic integration goes on. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, for instance, took extraordinary steps to underscore their commitment to free trade and investment.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“For so many years, East Asia was admired for its success with globalization. The so-called East Asian miracle was little more than our region’s economic response to it. Our fast growth doubled our incomes and moved tens of millions of our people out of poverty. Up until July 1997, we thought all was well. Now we know better; we have learned our lessons. Our difficulties could have been less severe or avoided with better public and corporate governance, with better management of financial systems, with greater transparency and accountability; in other words, with greater openness, which is the heart and spirit of the free market or any truly free system. Happily, the crisis did not destroy the conditions underpinning East Asia’s growth formula of outward-oriented industrialization.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“The much-touted new global order, where nations live in harmony and peace, where growth and sustainable development are rights and not privileges and where justice rules and human rights are upheld remains a promise. We encounter newer threats to the peace, and old threats are re-emerging. Poverty stalks many lands. Far too many people have their human rights ignored or violated. Our very Earth protests decades of unbridled abuse. One of the clear victors at the end of the cold war was the free market. For most of our lives, the assault upon the very idea and practice of the free market came from an ideology. Today, even that ideology embraces the methods, if not the spirit, of the free market. It now seems that the growing reach of the free market, or 9 globalization, is held back only by our inability to adapt to it fast enough.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Almost a decade ago the cold war ended and we are today at the doorstep of a new century. Over those years, we achieved much as individual nations and as Members of this Organization. Yet, our collective search for peace and progress for all continues. After many years of eloquent debates, after hearing many persuasive proposals and formulations, how well indeed have we mastered the language of peace. But the wars and strife that afflict our world, even as we speak, show that we have neither fully learned nor lived the ways of peace. As at its founding, our Organization is faced with the dire spectre of countless multitudes living in utter dread and misery.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“Mr. President, I would like to congratulate you as you take on the honour and responsibility of leading the Assembly at its fifty-fourth session. Allow me to express our deep appreciation to His Excellency Minister Didier Opertti, who led us last year with admirable efficiency, insight and, on occasion, good humour. I take this opportunity also to commend the Secretary-General for his dedication and inspiring leadership in the service of our Organization. I would also like to welcome Presidents Teburoro Tito, Rene Harris and King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, their delegations and the people of Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga, all fellow members of the Asia-Pacific family, to the United Nations. Their membership in our Organization should further bolster the global consensus on peace and progress in the world.”
1999-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 54 (1999)
“At the global level, this requires respect for the principle of sovereign equality among States, the commitment to enrich, not beggar, one another, the need to uphold and defend the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, the pacific settlement of disputes, the promotion of all human rights, and respect for the one and only world we live in. Without exception, all nations need to cooperate and be part of the solution to all the world’s woes. For we are all in this together, and there are no others to blame. As Shakespeare admonished, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings“ (Julius Caesar, Act I, scene 2).”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Council is the United Nations organ with the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and its decisions must be viewed as serving the collective interest of all United Nations Members. Thus, its membership must be enlarged to include more key global players and developing countries. Its working methods and decision-making processes should become more transparent and democratic. As a democracy, the Philippines is convinced that global efforts and cooperation to achieve peace, prosperity and development can succeed only if democracy thrives within nations and serves as the basis for relations between and among them.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“As a founding member, the Philippines recognizes that the United Nations must have the active support of all its Members and adequate resources in order to be effective. We have supported the various reform exercises undertaken in the past years, and we will continue to do so, to ensure the continued relevance of this our reliable partner. Inasmuch as the overwhelming majority of United Nations members are from the developing world, the United Nations reform process must restore development issues to the core of the United Nations agenda. It should also enable the General Assembly to fulfil effectively its Charter- mandated responsibilities. There is a pressing need to modernize and reform the Security Council.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Sustainable development continues to be an important focus of Philippine foreign policy. As Chair of the sixth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Philippines emphasized the role of civil society in the implementation of cooperative activities in key areas such as freshwater resources, the role of industry, technology transfer and capacity-building in development. Last April, the Philippines signed the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. We join other States parties to the Convention in urging the speedy entry into force of that Protocol. Addressing global challenges and problems requires international action and cooperation. The United Nations remains the principal multilateral forum for the initiation of such action and cooperation.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“So long as any or all of these rights are not respected globally, we cannot rest, even as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For the Philippines, the best and surest way to promote social justice and human rights is through a sincere commitment to the rule of law. And one law that is self- evident and immutable in all cultures is the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the human person. Many of the international commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, particularly Agenda 21, remain unfulfilled. And sadly, no new or additional resources needed by developing countries to implement many of the actions agreed at the Summit have materialized. We appeal for early action on these points.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Convention on the Rights of the Child should guide international action in this area. At the regional level, the Philippines and the United Kingdom, under the aegis of the Asia-Europe Meeting, have launched a joint initiative on child welfare with a view to creating a better international cooperation mechanism on this endeavour. The Philippines attaches great importance to the promotion and protection of the rights of migrant workers and their families, and we continue to call upon all countries to accede to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. All human rights — political, civil, social and economic — are universal, indivisible, interdependent and 8 interrelated.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The poor, who get hit first and hardest in any economic downturn, will always be restive if development yields dividends only for the rich. The crisis makes us realize that the fruits of prosperity and the pains of sacrifice must be enjoyed or borne equitably. The globalization of information and the media may have reduced cultural barriers to the point of homogenizing certain cultural aspects of life. But the world continues to suffer from cultural intolerance. The plight of children, the rights and advancement of women and human rights in general still need to be addressed vigorously by the international community. The continuing exploitation of children for pornography, prostitution and drug-trafficking, not to mention the suffering of displaced and refugee children, is a global problem.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Now we must begin the work on the global financial system. Together, we must plan and build a new architecture that best suits today’s and tomorrow’s needs. The Philippines welcomes President Clinton’s eight- point agenda to lead the world out of the current global economic and financial instability. Real action is what the world, not just Asia, needs urgently. Indeed, threatening clouds are overhead. Lives are needlessly shattered. We need to limit the damage now and start rebuilding as soon as we can. Another lesson the crisis teaches us is about how brittle and fleeting high growth in gross domestic product is. It is not difficult to associate the roots of civil unrest in the wake of economic hardships with the lack of social justice on the ground.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The ensuing convergence of ideas and resolve towards greater transparency and a more level playing field, at home and throughout the world, should be boons to our peoples and nations. The financial crisis has also confronted us with the reality that the world is dealing with a new phenomenon. This is the phenomenon of massive amounts of capital flowing across national borders at lightning speed, bloating economies into fragile bubbles as they rush in and shaking economies to their foundations as they are withdrawn. This is one aspect of globalization that carries great peril. It requires much diligent study and delicate handling. We have long recognized the need to recast the global trading regime and make it more responsive to the requirements of our time. Our efforts on this are well advanced.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“We need to replenish IMF resources, augment the funds of the World Bank and the regional banks, and develop new remedies for the new problems of a globalized economy. The United Nations can play a significant role in fostering international cooperation and action to solve the global crisis and mitigate its effects. Together, we can fight protectionism. The suffering spawned by the crisis must be addressed. The significant decline in official development assistance from donor countries needs to be reversed. Now more than ever, social amelioration programmes and safety nets must be enhanced. The crisis has forced us, too, to focus attention on the quality of governance. The issues of corruption and cronyism have been catapulted to the top of national debates.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Philippines joins the rest of the international community in hailing the adoption of the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court. I wish to convey my Government’s serious intention to consider the matter of accession to that treaty in the near future. The world needs economic solidarity. And the Asian crisis, which has spread to other regions, is our immediate global concern. For in its wake, millions of lives have been afflicted, with untold suffering. In its path, nations may fall. The Bretton Woods institutions have played a vital role in the global economy. But it is now clear that their methods and their resources, particularly those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), are sorely insufficient to contain the crisis and to restore the health of afflicted economies.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“The Philippines hopes to see a fully stable South- East Asia, where all peoples enjoy peace and national reconciliation. We hope to see all 10 countries in the region working together for a united and outward-looking South-East Asia, bonded in a partnership of dynamic development and in a community of caring societies. Thus, we are committed to assisting Myanmar and Laos 7 in their integration into a peaceful, prosperous, humane and just ASEAN. Peace and order are threatened by the evils of terrorism and transnational crime. Terrorism is a crime against humanity, and we strongly condemn it. Transnational crime in all its guises, including drug- trafficking, trafficking in women and children, and money- laundering, must be stopped.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“For this reason, the Philippines contributes where it can to the establishment or restoration of political stability in other lands, particularly in support of democracy. Cambodia’s recently held elections have been judged free and fair. But, as recent developments in that country show, democratic elections, while necessary, are not a sufficient condition for democracy or for peace and stability. Cooperation by all Cambodian parties, prompted by a deeper love for the nation’s good, is required. The efforts of the ASEAN troika, the Friends of Cambodia and the United Nations have not been in vain; they have just not been enough. Much could be done by the international community; but so much more needs to be done by the Cambodians themselves to pull their country back from the brink.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)
“Likewise, we need to put an end to the unregulated transfer and indiscriminate and often illegal circulation of small arms and light weapons. The Philippines is also deeply committed to the banning and destruction of anti-personnel landmines. My Government is deeply gratified that our common intense effort to conclude the Convention on anti-personnel mines succeeded last December. We strongly urge States that have not yet done so to sign the Convention. We urge all to assist in landmine clearance and the rehabilitation of landmine victims. Political instability and the collapse of peace and order in any State produce deleterious effects, including security threats for others.”
1998-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 53 (1998)