As friend and ally, RP should stand by US – Ople

The Philippines should stand by the United States when it pays "the ultimate price" for disarming Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople said yesterday.

Ople, in a newspaper column, said that the Philippines has always favored a "multilateral approach" to the Iraq issue and a central role for the United Nations.

"If, however, there is a failure of will in the UN, and the US decides to pay the ultimate price for disarming Saddam Hussein, should we not stand by the US?" he said. "I believe that we should do so."

Ople said the Philippines is "ready and willing to be counted as a friend and ally" when the US decides to disarm Iraq to ensure the safety, security and welfare "not only of the American people but all peace-loving people throughout the world."

US President George W. Bush, he said, is currently determining which countries will compose the "coalition of the willing" that will support forcible means to disarm Iraq should the UN lack the will to do so.

"Very likely, the Philippines will be included in that list. However, it is clearly understood that each country in the coalition determines the nature, shape and form of its own contribution," Ople said.

While the Philippines will not send combat troops to fight in Iraq, Ople said the government "can provide moral, political and humanitarian assistance," particularly "in a post-conflict scenario when a regime change has been effected in Iraq."

He said the government can send doctors and nurses, as well as a peacekeeping force composed of volunteers from the Philippine National Police.

Another contribution the Philippines can make in the US-led "fight for the freedom and security of their own country and of mankind" is to grant the US overflight and transit rights, including refueling, in local ports as may be deemed necessary by the government, Ople said.

He noted that the Philippines and the US were allies in World War II, and that this alliance has been revived in the wake of the new challenge to stop international terrorism – "a more insidious and treacherous foe than was ever witnessed in the past, an enemy that threatens, through weapons of mass destruction, to wipe out millions of peaceful, innocent citizens wherever they may live and no matter what beliefs they hold."

The Philippines, "as it did in World War II, will not flinch from the challenge," Ople said.

He said the fight against terrorism will be long and hard, but it is in Baghdad "where the first test of wills will have to be met and surmounted."