MANILA, 27 March 2004 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday said none of the Filipino peacekeepers in Kosovo had been killed after all.
Undersecretary Rafael E. Seguis said the United Nations mission in Kosovo had clarified that the officer who was mistaken for a Filipino turned out to be from Ghana in Africa. “This is a clarification that we are only too glad to make. We are thankful that the report that a Filipino lost his life has been proven to be untrue, although we also feel for the loss of the UN Police official who was actually killed,” said Seguis, who is in charge of the DFA while Secretary Delia Albert is still on an official trip abroad.
“All of our Filipino UN Police officials are safe and we are confident that they will remain safe. We regret that, based on the information coming from the UN, we had acknowledged the death of one of our police officers,” Seguis said in a press statement issued by the department.
The statement said the Philippine ambassador in Hungary, Alejandro del Rosario, relayed to the Manila the good news he received from the commander of the 55-strong Filipino police contingent in Kosovo.
Col. Getulio Napenas told ambassador del Rosario that all his officers and men have been accounted for, said the statement.
Seguis said the DFA has to apologize to the families and friends of the Philippine contingent for the anxiety the report may have caused on them.
“What is clear from this incident is the need for the department to have direct contacts with our military and police forces which are deployed overseas so we can get real-time updates in urgent situations. I believe that in today”s world, this is a necessity. We have to function on a 24-hour, real-time basis,” said Seguis.
