Gov’t calls for deferment of NAM meet in Manila

10/25/2009

The government has called for a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) planned for December in Manila to be postponed to give the host nation time to recover from two devastating tropical storms.

“We really need all hands on deck in relief and rehabilitation. That’s why the President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo are studying if we will continue hosting the NAM Ministerial Meeting in Manila,” President Arroyo’s spokesman, Cerge Remonde, said.

Remonde said before enplaning for Thailand, Arroyo wanted her government to focus on rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts after typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng,” one after the other, battered Northern and Central Luzon and the National Capital Region recently.

“NAM is very much aware of our priorities to rehabilitate and reconstruct our country from the devastation of these storms,” he said.

Remonde said Arroyo had directed Romulo to seek the nod of the NAM leadership for the postponement of the Manila meet and Romulo has been consulting the movement’s members about the deferment.

Manila is loath to give up the prestige of hosting the event but prefers that it be pushed back “because of the priority we need to give to rehabilitation,” Remonde said.

Tropical storms “Ondoy” (international codename “Ketsana”) and “Pepeng” (international codename “Parma”) killed about 1,050 persons in the past month.

The 118-member NAM, one of the largest and most influential international bodies pushing for world peace, represents around 56 percent of the global population. Formally, it represents countries not aligned with or against any major power bloc.

“NAM has also helped us a lot in our quest for peace in the South (Mindanao),” Remonde noted.

AFP, with PNA

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