Manila has smallest delegation in UN council

Even with the leanest delegation in the powerful 15-member United Nations Security Council, the Philippines has been playing an active role in key international issues in its first month on the panel.

"The Philippines has the leanest delegation in the council, which is viewed with amazement if not incredulity by delegations. But these challenges bring the best out of my officers in our UN mission here in New York," Lauro Baja, Manila’s ambassador to the UN, said in a statement from New York.

The Philipines’ 10-member mission only has one officer and an assistant handling African issues while the other nine non-permanent council members have at least four experts, Baja said.

Manila only has one political coordinator handling issues involving terrorism and Iraq while other council members have at least two senior officers. Only one delegate handles Asian issues.

Half of the items on the council’s agenda concern Africa but terrorism and the Middle East are the major topics.

The Philippines was a non-permanent member in 1976, during the tenure of then Foreign Affairs Secretary Carlos P. Romulo, to whom Baja served as special assistant.

The Philippines’ two-year term, which began on Jan. 1, will end on Dec. 31, 2005.

The council has five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. There are 10 non-permanent members, elected to two-year terms by the UN General Assembly.

Each council member has one vote. Decisions on substantive matters require nine council votes, including the concurring votes of all five permanent members, all of which have veto power.

Several non-permanent members supported the war in Iraq. But France, Germany and Russia opposed the war, fraying transatlantic alliances, a situation not seen in recent years.

France had threatened to veto a resolution authorizing force against Iraq, prompting a unilateral US-led invasion. The Security Council’s failure to decide on the issue put the UN’s role as a global mediator in doubt.