Servicemen of Ukrainian Military Forces walk in the small town of Severodonetsk, Donetsk Region on February 27, 2022. | Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is voting in favor of a United Nations resolution expressing “explicit condemnation” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The Philippines votes Yes to the UNGA resolution and expresses explicit condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine. No one can trust news reports of casualties on either side but 14,000 have been killed since 2014,” read the Philippines’ statement, which was delivered at an emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at 11 p.m. on Monday (Manila time).
“In the current fog of lies, we have yet to determine the true casualties on both sides,” it added.
The Philippines then appealed for the “protection of civilians and civilian infrastructures.”
“We strongly urge the cessation of hostilities; but while an offense can be stopped at will the defense cannot rest until the offense stops,” the statement read.
“We call for massive assistance commensurate with the growing humanitarian crisis and echo the UN Secretary General’s appeal for respect of humanitarian principles to protect civilians and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine. Safe access to humanitarian assistance must be assured by the most effective means,” it added.
Further, the Philippines stressed that the “principle of sovereignty and the sovereign equality of States is enshrined in the UN Charter.”
“All States enjoy the right to full sovereignty in all their areas of jurisdiction. The Charter of the UN requires sovereign states to refrain from the use of force against the political independence and territorial integrity of any state,” it added.
Manila also condemned the use of “separatism and secession as a weapon of diplomacy for inviting and inflicting terrible cruelties and indiscriminate killings far in excess of that of any other kind of conflict.”
“We saw this in the Balkans and in Africa,” it noted.
The Philippines also reiterated its call to resort to the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes.
“It will at least halt the ongoing tragedy for a while,” it added.
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