Part VI of the “Clash of Civilizations” Series

T he proposed All-Muslim Peacekeeping Force (AMPForce) in and from Mindanao is more-than the equivalent of the Blackwater USA, the world's most-powerful mercenary army.

There are basic differences between the proposed AMPForce and the Blackwater and here are some of them:

1.0           Unlike the Blackwater, the AMPForce is proposed to be part of a troika: Peacekeepers, Engineering Brigade and Medical Corps.

2.0           The Blackwater essentially was composed of retired American military personnel. It has very-few Muslim employees and executives. It relied partly on local military contacts and subcontractors, whose loyalty could not be relied upon.

3.0           The Blackwater often operated above the local- and-international laws and, hence, did not attract the support of the local population. On the other hand the proposed AMPForce would generate respect from the indigenous people, since the peacekeepers from the Philippines are also Muslims and, therefore, would respect not only international law but also the Sharia Law. And coupled with the fielding of Islamic engineers and medical personnel from Mindanao, more rapport is projected to be developed between the peacekeepers and the local people and the security forces of the Islamic country where they will be assigned.

4.0           The salary scale for the proposed AMPForce will only be modest versions of the Blackwater pay brackets, where often a Blackwater security officer would be compensated at more-than $200,000 per year, plus medical-and-life insurance coverage. If the AMPForce can pay even one-fourth of what the Blackwater was paying its employees, then “there will indeed be a flood of recruits,” as Sultan Rudy Dianalan of Marawi City has said.

4.1           If the average pay, including insurance coverage, will come close to $50,000 per year per employee, no warlord and much more any kidnapping thug in Mindanao will be able to match it. The AMPForce will be able to stabilize Mindanao, as the more-than-modest incomes of its employees and officers will have great multiplier effects on the local economy. The growing incomes may result not only in a housing boom but also usher in a golden age of architecture and engineering in Mindanao, which can also become the Mecca of Medicine and Education in the Islamic world.

Filipinos at the United Nations

T he United Nations (UN) has had a long history of employing productively Filipino executives, employees and peacekeepers. Filipinos started getting hired by the UN when the Filipino statesman, Carlos P. Romulo, was elected the President of the Fourth Session of United Nations General Assembly from 1949-1950, and chairman of the United Nations Security Council.

The UN headquarters in New York City has even a Filipino Employees’ Association. Yes, Filipinos have served with distinction the UN not only as peacekeepers but also as highly-skilled employees and executives in nearly all its departments and humanitarian missions abroad. It will, therefore, be easy to lobby the UN for support of the proposed Mindanawon All-Muslim peacekeeping force, engineering brigades and medical corps for assignment in Islamic countries where there is a need for law, order and development.

E ditor’s Notes: To read the earlier parts of this series, please click on the following links:

The Filipino and the Clash of Civilizations, Part I

The "Clash of Civilizations" Now Brewing in California?

Is the Philippines the Prototype of the "Clash of Civilizations?" (Part III)

Overseas Filipinos Can End the "Clash of Civilizations" in RP (Part IV)

Illiteracy Fuels the Ongoing “Clash of Civilizations” in RP, Especially in Mindanao (Part V)

H ere is the press release issued by the Philippine Consulate General of Los Angeles, California:

RP Peacekeeping Deployments at All-time High

NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2010—Philippine deployments in support of United Nations peacekeeping operations is at an all-time high with more than a thousand military and police peacekeepers serving in various conflict areas worldwide, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations reported today.

In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, Ambassador Hilario G. Davide, Jr., Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said the Philippines had a total of 1,056 Filipino peacekeepers serving in nine UN peacekeeping missions at the end of 2009.

Ambassador Davide said the figure, which represents a 40 percent surge in troop deployments compared to the end of the previous year, pushed the Philippines up to the 23rdposition in the list of the top troop and police contributing countries. The Philippines was 29th in the list with 626 military and police peacekeepers deployed at the end of 2008.

“The 656 officers and enlisted personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the 415 officers from the Philippine National Police (PNP) currently serving with the UN represent the largest number of Filipino peacekeepers deployed overseas since the Philippines participated in its first UN peacekeeping operation during the term of President Diosdado P. Macapagal,” Ambassador Davide said.

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. Since then, Filipino peacekeepers have made their presence felt in UN operations in Afghanistan; Cambodia; Burundi; Cote d’ Ivoire; Darfur; Georgia; Golan Heights; Haiti; Iraq; Liberia; Kashmir;  Kosovo; Nepal; Sudan; and Timor-Leste.

A ccording to the Philippine Mission, prior to 2009, the highest number of Filipino peacekeepers deployed abroad was in 2000 when the Philippines had 807 military and police personnel supporting UN operations in Timor-Leste.

The Philippine Mission attributed the surge to the assumption in October by a 336-man infantry battalion of peacekeeping responsibilities in the Golan Heights; the deployment in November of additional police officers to support UN humanitarian efforts in Darfur; and the deployment of military officers to augment the UN military observer group in Kashmir.

In addition to the Philippine peacekeeping contingent serving with the UN Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights (UNDOF), the Philippines has a 157-man headquarters company with the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and a 139-man unit with the UN Mission. Other AFP officers serve as military observers, liaison officers and staff officers in Sudan (11); Cote d’ Ivoire (7); Kashmir (3); and Timor Leste (3).

In his report, Ambassador Davide also said that the Philippines remains on the list of the top contributors of individual police officers to UN peacekeeping operations.

He said most PNP peacekeepers are deployed in Africa with 169 serving with the UN-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); 29 with the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS); and 26 with UNMIL. Another 153 officers are deployed in Timor-Leste; 22 in Haiti; and one in Afghanistan.

“The present deployment accounts for the biggest number of PNP officers serving with the UN since the Philippines first sent police peacekeepers to serve with the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia in 1992,” Ambassador Davide said.

The Filipino envoy said the latest deployments more than made up for the peacekeeping slots the Philippines lost as a result of the pullout of the PNP contingent from Kosovo following the assumption by the European Union of UN peacekeeping responsibilities there. The Philippines also lost some slots with the closure of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia and the downsizing of UNMIL.

“We are proud of the fact that despite our limited resources, we were still able to fulfill our obligations as a member of the family of nations,” Ambassador Davide said, as he assured the UN that it can continue counting on the Philippines as a responsible and reliable peacekeeping partner. 

Press Release Sent by the Philippine Consulate General

3600 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 500

Los Angeles, CA 90010

Tel. (213) 639-0980/Fax (213) 639-0990

Website - www.philippineconsulatela.org

Passport - passport.pcgenla@gmail.com

Visa - visa_pcgla@earthlink.net

Dual Citizenship - pcgenla_dual@yahoo.com

Legal/Notarials - notarials_pcgenla@earthlink.net

E ditor’s Notes: To read the earlier parts of this series, please click on the following links:

The Filipino and the Clash of Civilizations, Part I

The "Clash of Civilizations" Now Brewing in California?

Is the Philippines the Prototype of the "Clash of Civilizations?" (Part III)

Overseas Filipinos Can End the "Clash of Civilizations" in RP (Part IV)

Illiteracy Fuels the Ongoing “Clash of Civilizations” in RP, Especially in Mindanao (Part V)