01 July 2014 - The Philippine Embassy in Damascus welcomes the visit of the Philippine Assessment Mission to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on June 23 to 24. The team was comprised of officials from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Department of Foreign Affairs.
The team, headed by Commodore Rafael G. Mariano and Major General Oscar T. Lactao, met with the Syrian officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Syrian Ministry of Defense, Office of the Senior Syrian Arab Delegate and the UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria.
The purpose of the visit is to assess the security situation of the Philippine Contingent to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights.
The ongoing conflict in Syria has already affected the Syrian-Israeli border in the Golan Heights.
Currently, the 7th Philippine Contingent in UNDOF has a total of 346 officers and enlisted personnel. Fourteen (14) of them are serving as staff of UNDOF while the rest are deployed in the southern part of the area of operations. END