DFA checking on 'missing' UN funds for AFP peacekeepers

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is checking if there were indeed funds issued by the United Nations (UN) for peacekeeping equipment used by Filipino soldiers, in light of recent allegations of corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). “As regards the alleged missing UN reimbursement peacekeeping funds in 2001, I have immediately instructed the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations (NYPM) to check with concerned UN offices if there were such funds issued," said DFA Secretary Alfredo Romulo in a statement released Saturday. Romulo said the supposed funds represent reimbursements for equipment brought by Filipino soldiers to UN peacekeeping missions. The Foreign Affairs chief’s statement came following revelations of former state auditor Heidi Mendoza that millions of dollars from the UN – reportedly payments and reimbursements for the participation of Filipino troops in UN peacekeeping operations – passed through a bank account in Iloilo before reaching military coffers. (See: Ex-COA auditor bares suspicious bank account in Garcia’s province) While Mendoza was unable to identify the owner of the bank account, she noted that Iloilo is the home province of the wife of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, accused of amassing more than P300 million in ill-gotten wealth while still in military service. In the same statement, Romulo said he instructed the NYPM in May 2008 to request the UN to deposit peacekeeping reimbursement funds for the Philippines to a government account in New York administered by the Philippine Consulate General, to ensure that such funds are properly secured and accounted for. These funds will remain safe until such time that the AFP has coordinated with proper Philippine agencies to transfer these to the National Treasury," he said in the statement, adding that this was upon the recommendation of then Philippine Permanent Representative Hilario Davide. “These funds [in the NYPM’s care] remain secure and intact," he added. Romulo is thus recommending that these funds be immediately transferred to the National Treasury for proper accounting and safekeeping, as recommended earlier by Permanent Representative Libran Cabactulan. “The DFA takes very seriously its duty to ensure that the Philippine Government’s interactions with the United Nations remain aboveboard and consistent with the highest standards with which we have always conducted ourselves as a founding member of the world body," Romulo said. A record number of over 1,000 Filipino military and police peacekeepers were deployed in 2009 in various conflict areas in nine UN missions worldwide, according to data from the DFA. Majority of these officers and personnel are part of the peacekeeping infantry battalion in Golan Heights, humanitarian troop in Darfur, military observer group in Kashmir, and the stabilization mission in Haiti. The rest are serving as military observers, liaison officers and staff officers in Sudan, Cote d’Ivore, Kashmir and Timor Leste. The Philippines first participated in UN peacekeeping operations in 1963 when it contributed a 40-member squadron from the Philippine Air Force to provide air support for the UN mission in the Congo.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV