Palace exec denies PHL sending rep to Nobel rites

UPDATED 3:15 p.m. - The Philippine government denied that it would send a representative to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Norway on Friday after being criticized for its decision to skip the event. In a text message to GMANews.TV on Friday, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang said reports that the Philippine government has changed its mind about the issue were "not true." According to the Twitter account of the Reuters news agency, the "Nobel committee says 19 countries set to miss ceremony; Ukraine and the Philippines to attend after earlier decision to skip event." However, when asked to confirm reports that the Philippine Embassy in Oslo, Norway informed the Nobel Prize Committee that they would be sending a representative, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Ed Malaya said: "I do not have confirmation on that." The DFA had earlier decided not to send a representative to the Nobel rites because the Philippine ambassador to Norway, Elizabeth Buensuceso, was scheduled to be in a consular mission to Denmark with the 1,000-strong Filipino community there. Malaya said in an interview in Malacañang that the Philippine government cannot send anyone other than the ambassador because the invitation was for the ambassador so sending a substitute would not be proper. Despite the Philippine government's decision not to send a representative to the ceremony, Malaya maintained that the Philippines is committed to upholding human rights. "The record of the Philippines in terms of observance and adherence to human rights is clear and fairly establish, compared to many other countries, there has been no imposition of the death penalty in this country since 2001," Malaya said after a ceremony on human rights day where President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino announced the the withdrawal of charges against the Morong 43. "We have abolished the capital punishment way back in 2006 and we are a union voice for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide," Malaya said. Asked by GMANews.TV over the phone whether the Philippine embassy in Norway used to attend previous Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies, Malaya answered: "Our embassy [there] opened only a few years ago. I don't have information as to our attendance record." Not a big issue On Thursday, a Palace official said the Philippines' decision to skip the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honoring imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo should not be treated as a big issue. Carandang pointed out that attendance at the ceremony was optional. "From what I understand our ambassador to Norway is going to be attending another function at hindi siya makakapunta sa Peace Prize awarding. The attendance of that is optional so I don't think that's going to be, that should be a big issue," Carandang said in an ambush interview in Malacañang on Thursday. The Philippines is among 19 countries that will be skipping the ceremony, along with China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Egypt, Sudan, Ukraine, Cuba and Morocco. "Chinese pressure" The Center for International Law earlier issued a statement urging the Philippine government not to bow to Chinese pressure to withdraw its participation in the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremonies. "More than ever, we are called to uphold free expression as a cornerstone of democracy," said Prof. Harry Roque, Centerlaw chairperson. A New York (NY) Times report on December 8 said the DFA decided to skip the event to avoid annoying China. "Philippine press reports quoted diplomats on Wednesday as saying that Manila opted out of the ceremony because it did not want to annoy China, already angered over a bungled hostage rescue in August that left eight Hong Kong residents dead," the NY Times said. The Philippine government tried to seek an audience with leaders in China to explain the penalties Aquino decided to mete out to those involved in the bus siege. However, the Chinese government reportedly could not accommodate into its schedule the Philippine delegation led by Vice-President Jejomar Binay that was supposed to fly to China. Leaked diplomatic cable In a leaked diplomatic cable uploaded by WikiLeaks on December 4, the US embassy in Beijing told Washington in January 2009 that China might exert "economic pressure" on the Philippines. According to the cable message, China might put pressure on the Philippines to gain support against Japan's rising military strength in the Asia-Pacific region and the US' own military initiatives. Carandang, however, said on Thursday he was "not aware of any pressure from China for us not to attend." Nobel Peace Prize The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China. Liu took part in the Tiananmen protests in 1989 and was a leading author behind Charter 08, the manifesto of such rights in China. — VVP, GMANews.TV