RP condemns killing of Pinay volunteer in Kabul

The Philippines condemned on Thursday the terrorist attack in Afghanistan on Wednesday that killed 11 people, including a Filipina who works for the United Nations’ election outreach program.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that Josie G. Esto, 40, was killed in the attack along with four United Nations personnel stationed in Kabul. It said that Esto is an electoral outreach and training coordinator under the UN Volunteers Program. "The Filipino nation joins her bereaved family and friends in mourning the loss of Ms. Esto, a wife and mother of two children and a dedicated worker for peace," the statement said, adding that she was an electoral and civic education officer in the Philippines before becoming a UN volunteer in Liberia, Timor-Leste and Nepal. The Associated press reported that 11 people were killed, including three militants, in the attack claimed by Taliban insurgents. [See story: Pinay feared dead in Kabul attack] According to the DFA, "Esto had been in Afghanistan for just over a year and was among several UN volunteers working with the United Nations Development Program/Enhancing Legal and Electoral Capacity for Tomorrow (UNDP/ELECT) Project, which is the primary vehicle through which the international community supports elections in Afghanistan." The UNDP/ELECT works closely with electoral bodies such as the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan and provides project and program design and management, mobilization of donor funding, activity coordination, reporting and the channeling of funds for electoral support. Esto is the fourth Filipino killed in terrorist attacks against the UN in recent years, the DFA said. In 2003, Ranillo Buenaventura, a staff member of the UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq was killed in the suicide car bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad. Last year, Gene Luna, a staff member of the World Food Program, was among the fatalities in the terrorist bombing of UN offices in Algiers, Algeria. Perseveranda So, a staff member of the UN Children’s Fund, was among the victims in a suicide bomb attack on a hotel housing international workers in Peshawar, Pakistan. The DFA noted that Esto’s death came five years after Angelito Nayan, a Filipino UN volunteer assisting in the 2004 Afghan elections, was kidnapped in Kabul and held for three weeks by the Taliban before he was released. On the other hand, UNV Executive Coordinator Flavia Pansieri expressed condolences on behalf of the organization’s 8,000 volunteers and staff to the families of Esto and Yah-Lydia Wonyene of Liberia, another UN Volunteer who was also killed in the attack. “Josie and Lydia dedicated their knowledge and experience as volunteers to support the people of Afghanistan. As volunteers, they demonstrated a true commitment to the cause of peace and development and their sacrifice will not be forgotten," Pansieri said. Despite the attack, the DFA said “The Philippines reaffirms its solidarity with the government and people of Afghanistan in their nation-building efforts. It calls on the international community to likewise condemn this latest terrorist outrage and to band together to improve the protection of civilians, particularly UN personnel and aid workers who are vulnerable to danger in the course of their duties." - GMANews.TV