Biden, Duterte in the 76th UNGA

“Whatever its flaws, the United Nations is still the only institution that brings together all the countries of the world. And it is the best forum for the United States to spur countries to act - and to hold them accountable when they don't.”

—Samantha Power

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte was scheduled to speak in the 76^th session of the United Nations General Assembly (76thUNGA) here in New York City in a pre-recorded speech at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon on September 21 (September 22 in Philippine time), as his violent anti-drug campaign faces renewed scrutiny from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Attendance in the assembly has been limited due to the global pandemic.

US President Joseph Biden will also address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (September 21 US time) for the first time as president as world leaders gather in New York City for the 76^th session of the UNGA.

Mr. Duterte’s speech at the 76th UNGA had been confirmed by Malacañang several days ago.

"President Duterte will advance Philippine positions on global issues of key concern, such as universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, climate change, human rights, including the situation of migrant workers and refugees, and international and regional security developments," the Palace said in a statement.

This will be the second time the controversial Mr. Duterte will take part in the 193-member strong UNGA. 

 

-o0o-

 

In September 2020, the hard-hitting leader of the Philippines, who once threatened to withdraw from the UN, also addressed the world's most important diplomatic stage for the first time.

Mr. Duterte’s first speech in 2020 followed years of verbal assault against the UN—its attached bodies, officials, and experts—over their criticism of the drug war and other human rights abuses against the Filipinos. 

The UN meeting, meanwhile, comes as Mr. Biden faces outrage from France over a new submarine deal, looming safety concerns over COVID-19 and global vaccine rates and questions about the U.S. role in the world after the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Here are five things to watch as Biden addresses and meets with his counterparts, as pointed out by The Hill.

The Biden administration set off a feud with one of its closest allies last week when it announced a trilateral partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia on nuclear-powered submarines.

The announcement infuriated the French, who withdrew their ambassadors from the United States and Australia after the new deal scuttled their own $66 billion deal with Australia.

 

-o0o-

 

President Biden has reportedly requested a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, a senior administration official said, but there was not one officially scheduled. 

The French leader is not attending the U.N. gathering in-person.

“The president wants to communicate his desire to work closely with France in the Indo-Pacific and globally and to talk about specific practical measures that we can undertake together,” the Biden official said. “We understand the French’s position, we don’t share their view in terms of how this all developed.”

The focus of the call will be about “reaffirming” the U.S. commitment to its partnership with France. 

But the administration has no intention of pulling back from the submarine deal.

Mr. Biden pledged during the 2020 campaign to restore allies’ faith in U.S. leadership, but the major rift with France will prove to be a test of that effort. 

French officials have described the move as something former President Donald Trump would have done.

This week will mark the first time in two years world leaders will gather in-person for UNGA after last year’s event was upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

New York City health officials said ahead of the general assembly that delegates must show proof of vaccination to enter the general assembly hall. 

But the policy will be tested by the likes of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who is open about his refusal to take the vaccine. 

He tested positive for COVID-19 in July 2020.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

 

War we can’t afford to lose

“We don't have to sacrifice a strong economy for a healthy environment.”

—Dennis Weaver

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

THE real “war” we have been waging for decades now isn’t merely President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s battle against illegal drugs and criminal elements in the Philippines.

It’s neither an international conflict involving rogue nations nor an intergalactic event.

This “war” doesn’t involve battalions of armies, tanks, missiles and fighter planes.

It is humanity’s mishandling of the environment, which has seen a collapse in biodiversity, spreading deserts, and oceans reaching record temperatures.

And nature is reacting with “growing force and fury,” according to United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who made a passionate and landmark address at the Columbia University in New York City on December 2 that marked the beginning of a month of UN-led climate action.

The climate movement includes the release of major reports on the global climate and fossil fuel production, culminating in a climate summit on December 12, the fifth anniversary of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

 

-o0o-

 

The UN chief also made plain the link between COVID-19 and man-made climate change, even as he noted that the continued encroachment of people and livestock into animal habitats, risks exposing us to more deadly diseases.

And, while the economic slowdown resulting from the pandemic has temporarily slowed emissions of harmful greenhouse gases, Guterres emphasized that the levels of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane are still rising, with the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere at a record high. 

Despite this worrying trend, fossil fuel production—responsible for a significant proportion of greenhouse gases—is reportedly predicted to continue on an upward path.

The appropriate global response, the Secretary-General stressed, is a transformation of the world economy, flicking the “green switch” and building a sustainable system driven by renewable energy, green jobs and a resilient future.

One way to achieve this vision, he pointed out, is by achieving net zero emissions. There are encouraging signs on this front, with several developed countries, including the UK, Japan and China, committing to the goal over the next few decades.

 

-o0o-

 

Mr. Guterres also called on all countries, cities and businesses to target 2050 as the date by which they achieve carbon neutrality–to at least halt national increases in emissions—and for all individuals to do their part.

With the cost of renewable energy continuing to fall, this transition reportedly “makes economic sense, and will lead to a net creation of 18 million jobs over the next 10 years.”

Nevertheless, the UN chief pointed out, the G20, the world’s largest economies, are planning to spend 50 per cent more on sectors linked to fossil fuel production and consumption, than on low-carbon energy.

Many climate experts and activists have called for the cost of carbon-based pollution to be factored into the price of fossil fuels, a step that Mr. Guterres said would provide certainty and confidence for the private and financial sectors.

Companies, he declared, need to adjust their business models, ensuring that finance is directed to the green economy, and pension funds, which manage some $32 trillion in assets, need to step and invest in carbon-free portfolios.

Far more money, continued the Secretary-General, needs to be invested in adapting to the changing climate, which is hindering the UN’s work on disaster risk reduction. 

 

-o0o-

 

 

The international community, he said, has “both a moral imperative and a clear economic case, for supporting developing countries to adapt and build resilience to current and future climate impacts”.

The COVID-19 pandemic put paid to many plans, including the UN’s ambitious plan to make 2020 the “super year” for buttressing the natural world. 

That ambition has now been shifted to 2021, and will involve a number of major climate-related international commitments.

These include the development of a plan to halt the biodiversity crisis; an Oceans Conference to protect marine environments; a global sustainable transport conference; and the first Food Systems Summit, aimed at transforming global food production and consumption.

Mr. Guterres ended his speech on a note of hope, amid the prospect of a new, more sustainable world in which mindsets are shifting, to take into account the importance of reducing each individual’s carbon footprint.

Far from looking to return to “normal”, a world of inequality, injustice and “heedless dominion over the Earth”, the next step, said the Secretary-General, should be towards a safer, more sustainable and equitable path, and for mankind to rethink our relationship with the natural world—and with each other.

Since this fight against the climate crisis is the top priority for the 21st Century, this is the war we can’t afford to lose and we must all be actively and seriously involved.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)

 

UN Assembly: The new Alan Peter Cayetano

"The United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free world."

--Ralph Bunche

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- The last time I interviewed Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano was when he graced the Philippine Independence Day celebration in June 2015 at the Philippine Consulate on Fifth Avenue.
He was then a senator and was interested to run for vice president of the Philippines.
He did run and lost to Rep. Leni Robredo who also beat second placer, former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Cayetano, who ran under PDP-Laban standard bearer Rodrigo Roa Duterte, spoke about the plight of overseas Filipino workers (OFW), the Philippine economy,  and against graft and corruption.
When he spoke during the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, we heard a different Alan Peter Cayetano.
He wanted to convince the 72nd Edition of UNGA's General Debate that the Philippine government "seeks to protect the human rights of peaceful law-abiding people" in the country's battle against corruption, crime and illegal drugs.

INTEGRATE

Cayetano said: “The Philippines integrates the human rights agenda in its development initiatives for the purpose of protecting everyone, especially the most vulnerable, from lawlessness, violence, and anarchy."
The very principle of "responsibility to protect" must encompass the vast majority of peaceful law-abiding people who must be protected from those who are not, Cayetano explained.
He added that as a "responsible leader", President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, launched a vigorous campaign against the illegal drug trade “to save lives, preserve families, protect communities and stop the country’s slide into a narco-state, adding that the campaign was never an instrument to violate any individual’s or group’s human rights.
As of August 2017, the drug trade had penetrated at least 24,848 barangays. This is 59 per cent of the total of 42,036 of the smallest government units spanning the country’s archipelago.
The former senator said the Philippines have also discovered the intimate and symbiotic relationship between terrorism vis-a-vis poverty and the illegal drug trade.
These terrorists, he said, were somehow able to bring together an assortment of extremists, criminals, mercenaries and foreign fighters who attempted to take control of Marawi. The national armed forces will regain full control of Marawi from Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

ASEAN

On regionalism, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, has overcome the divisions, fears, and hostilities of the past, forging regional cooperation in promoting growth, development, and peaceful settlement of disputes, Cayetano said.
Here's part of Cayetano's speech:
"Mr. President, Excellencies, The path to peace must be walked with patience. To achieve any purpose with others--be they powers or people, patience is needed. The opposite of patience is impatience--the cause and aggravation of conflict.  
"Someone said that 'Talk, talk is better than war, war.' Listening is even better than talking. We must listen to others more than we listen to ourselves. Hopefully we know what we are talking about. But others may know what we do not. We can learn only if we stop talking, and listen. 
"We may think we know how others can do things better than they’ve done it. Maybe our way is more efficient. But the time gained by that efficiency will be time lost convincing others that our way is better, rather than a compromise between our way and theirs. 
"Real change in the world order necessitates cooperation. Nothing affecting others can be undertaken without their willing involvement, without getting their agreement on the purpose and manner of it. Achieving a shared purpose beyond any single one’s ability requires cooperation. 
"But how else can we get cooperation if not with the patience to explain why it is needed--and the equal patience to listen. 

LARGEST

"This is why we have the United Nations, the largest cooperative endeavor in human history. We use the UN to speak out but equally also to listen. And somehow arrive at a consensus, or at least a modus vivendi on how to proceed--in peace and therefore with a greater prospect of progress. 
"The theme for this year’s session--“Focusing on people: striving for peace and a decent life for all on a sustainable planet”--captures a promise that everyone who has stood here vowed to fulfill for his people, and the rest of the peoples of the United Nations, as the Preamble of the Charter puts it. 
"Yet, after 72 years, while much has been achieved, much more has to be done. The promise is still very much a work in progress.
"We, the peoples of the United Nations, battle new threats that undermine such success as we’ve achieved, and frustrate further progress in peace, development and human rights--the three pillars of the United Nations."