DFA Webinar Commemorates UN’s 75th Anniversary, Highlights PH Contributions
Speakers and Reactors of the webinar entitled “In Larger Freedom”. (DFA-OTLA)
PASAY CITY 23 October 2020 – In commemoration of the 75th adoption of the Charter of the United Nations (UN), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), in partnership with the Philippine Society of International Law (PSIL) and the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS), held a virtual web forum entitled, “In Larger Freedom: 75 Years of the Philippines and the Charter of the United Nations" on 21 October 2020 (PST). The session highlighted the country’s contribution in the United Nations since its inception in 1945 up to the present.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. opened the webinar, stressing that the UN Charter’s inclusivity, extending even to those who were yet to gain recognition as sovereign nations then, was the Philippines’ most important contribution to the UN. Secretary Locsin quoted the late Carlos P. Romulo, who was President of the 4th UN General Assembly from 1949 to 1950 and who said, “what we have done is to create the third world in the UN, the admission of all these nations that otherwise could not have been independent if we did not make that change in the article 76 of the UN Charter.”
Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations highlighted the work of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening the Role of the Organization, which was co-founded in the 1970s by the late General Carlos P. Romulo. The 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes, the most authoritative interpretation of the UN Charter’s provisions on the pacific settlement of disputes, is acknowledged to be the most significant and enduring achievement of this Committee. It was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 15 November 1982.
The Philippines is chair of the Committee in this milestone year.
In closing, Undersecretary for Administration J. Eduardo Malaya recalled the Philippines’ significant contributions to the development of the UN during its formative years, emphasizing that “the UN and its Charter embody our principles, values and aspirations for peace, justice and prosperity for our neighbors and ourselves.”
The webinar, along with the various speakers and moderators, provided context of the Philippines’ long participation and role in the mission of the UN, particularly on the promotion and progressive development of international law, and its continuing benefit to all Member States and peoples of the world. END
From top, left to right: Minister Angela Ponce, Ambassador Enrique Manalo (speaker), Prof. Romel Bagares (moderator), Vida Soraya Verzosa (moderator), Prof. Andre Palacios (speaker), Prof. Maria Luisa Isabel Rosales (Reactor), DOJ Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar (reactor), Consul Zoilo Velasco (reactor). (DFA-OTLA photo)
Screenshot of Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations Enrique Manalo’s lecture. (DFA-OTLA photo)
Professor Andre Palacios as speaker. (DFA-OTLA photo)
Top to bottom: Speakers: Prof. Romel Bagares, Consul Zoilo Velasco, Ambassador Manalo, and Undersecretary Malaya. (DFA-OTLA photo)