MANILA – The Philippine government has postponed an international conference of interfaith ministers under the auspices of the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) to devote its efforts and resources to the rehabilitation of areas that suffered heavy damage from two back-to-back typhoons that hit the country recently, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced.
Rafael Seguis, the DFA undersecretary for special concerns, said that instead of early December, the conference was moved to 2010 but the exact date has yet to be fixed.
Initially, the conference was to be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in suburban Pasay City, Metro Manila from December 1 to 3.
In a statement, Seguis said the government made the decision after consulting its partners in the Nam through Egypt, the chairman of the Nam Coordinating Bureau in New York and the member-states which chose the Philippines to host the Special Nam Ministerial Meeting on Interfaith Dialogue and Cooperation for Peace and Development.
Nam is composed of 118 member states, including the Philippines, that consider themselves not formally aligned with or against any of the world’s power blocs. The members represent about 56 percent of the total world population.
“We believe all hands must be on deck in the relief rehabilitation and reconstruction of the lives and communities of our countrymen,” Seguis emphasized. “Therefore, all must focus their efforts and resources on this major substantial task.”
Seguis was referring to typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” which hit the country within a week of each other and wrought heavy damage in terms of human lives, infrastructure, private properties and the agricultural sector.
On September 26, Ondoy (international codename Ketsana) brought record rainfall that caused massive flooding in Metro Manila and neighboring areas in Central and Southern Luzon, considered the worst in 40 years.
A week later on October 2, Pepeng (international codename Parma) lashed at extreme Northern Luzon and brought heavy rains that caused floods in the lowlands as well as landslides and rockslides in the mountain provinces of the Cordillera Administrative Region.
The total death toll from the two typhoons reached more than 1,000 aside from causing massive damage in the region estimated at more than $1 billion, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).
A third typhoon, “Ramil” (international codename Lupit, or “cruel” in Filipino) entered the Philippines more than a week later but before it could inflict another major damage in extreme Northern Luzon, it suddenly changed course and veered north toward Japan, weathermen reported.
In this light, Seguis pointed out that while the Philippines remains committed to the cause of faith through interfaith dialogue, the priority now should be the immediate and long-term needs of the estimated three million Filipino victims of Ondoy and Pepeng.
He stressed: “We are confident our partners and friends who have been helping us in our hour of distress brought about by the calamities will understand our decision to move the holding of the conference to an appropriate date next year.”
According to Seguis, the Philippines considers the Nam conference a cornerstone in the country’s foreign policy and has been programmed long before the two typhoons struck because it is part of the government’s commitment to promote peace, stability, development and progress.
Seguis also disclosed that earlier, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo to study the possibility of postponing the conference to another date after due consultations with the other Nam members.
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