Philippines mulls 'no' or 'abstain' vote on Rohingya crisis

MANILA, Philippines — Government officials and experts are still discussing on whether the Philippines will vote "no" or abstain from a United Nations draft resolution on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said.

The Philippines is among 10 countries that voted against the UN draft resolution calling on Myanmar to end a military campaign against Rohingya Muslims in the nation's Rakhine state.

The draft resolution will be up for debate next month before the UN general assembly.

"Abstain or 'no' is our option but so far we voted no," Cayetano said in an interview with ANC's "Headstart" on Tuesday.

Defending the country's vote, Cayetano said that the Philippines cannot be compared to the 135 countries that voted "yes" to the resolution as "they're not chair of the ASEAN."

Noting that Myanmar is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cayetano stressed that Southeast Asian leaders want peace and prosperity in the region.

Myanmar leaders might harden its position against the Philippines and revoke access to their country if Manila voted in favor of the UN resolution, he said.

"In other words, what's the objective of the resolution? Objective is humanitarian," the secretary said.

The resolution has two objectives — to address the root cause of the crisis in the Rakhine state and to provide immediate humanitarian access.

Cayetano added that Sen. Richard Gordon had requested for the Philippine Red Cross to return to Myanmar to assist the Myanmar Red Cross and the International Red Cross.

'It's the right thing'

The Philippines, however, could still have voted "yes" and have access to Myanmar at the same time "in a perfect world," according to Cayetano.

"By voting no or by voting by abstaining, our humanitarian people can come in and when the humanitarian groups come in there's eyes on the ground. The human rights situation also improves because there are international observers there already," he said.

The Foreign Affairs chief also agreed with the statement of Philippine Ambassador to the UN Teddy Locsin Jr. that an abstention on the draft UN resolution would be the "right thing."

"Tama siya na it cannot be 'yes', especially when you're ASEAN chair and especially when there is a need not only for the Muslim population," Cayetano said.

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