MANILA, 11 November 2006 — A Filipino police general has been appointed head of the United Nations’ new peacekeeping force in troubled East Timor, the Philippine ambassador to the UN said yesterday.
Ambassador Lauro Baja said the designation of Director Rodolfo Tor as police commissioner of the UN Integrated Mission in Timor Leste (UNMIT) makes him the first Filipino police officer to head a major UN peacekeeping operation.
In a press statement, Baja said Tor is expected to assume his post before the end of the month in East Timor’s capital Dili.
As head of the UN police, UNPol, Tor will oversee a force of more than 1,600 officers from 11 countries, including the Philippines and some neighbor Southeast Asian countries.
UNMIT, the fifth UN mission in East Timor since 1999, was created in August in response to violent clashes between rival factions in the East Timor armed forces and national police earlier this year. The UNPol will provide interim law enforcement and support to East Timor’s police force while it is being reconstituted, Baja said.
Tor, whose rank is equivalent to a major general in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is currently the PNP director for plans. A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), he holds a degree in law, a master’s degree in business administration, and a doctorate in peace and security administration.
He is the second Filipino officer to head a UN peacekeeping force.
Before Lt. Gen. Jaime de los Santos was appointed chief of the Philippine Army, he served as commander of the first UN mission in East Timor in 2000, which was then called the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
Baja said the designation of Director Tor as UNMIT police commissioner “reaffirms the positive contribution of Filipino peacekeepers who have been in East Timor as part of the UN missions there since 1999.”
At present, the Philippines is the top police-contributing country in Southeast Asia with a total of 219 officers deployed to UN missions in Afghanistan, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Haiti, Liberia, Kosovo, Sudan, and Timor Leste.
Around 150 are deployed to Timor Leste. (With input from the Inquirer News Service)
