UN member states urged to sustain nuclear disarmament efforts

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines yesterday called on member states of the United Nations to sustain the political momentum brought about by recent developments to push the nuclear disarmament agenda forward and redouble efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

In his address before the opening session of the thematic debate of the General Assembly on “Disarmament and World Security: Challenges for the International Community and the Role of the United Nations,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo urged the international community to sustain the momentum in the elimination of nuclear weapons.

He issued the call two weeks before the Philippines presides over the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Recalling the nuclear disarmament advocacy of his uncle General Carlos P. Romulo, the DFA chief told the UN General Assembly that the Philippines was among the first to call for a world free from nuclear weapons.