JEDDAH, 1 December 2007 — Nine Filipino police officers serving with the United Nations peacekeeping missions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo were injured in three separate incidents last week, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations said yesterday.
One of the Filipino officers was injured when he was beaten up by a mob in Timor-Leste, and eight were involved in two separate road accidents in Kosovo, said a press statement by the mission, citing a report of Ambassador Hilario G. Davide Jr. to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.
The press statement did not release the identities of the injured peacekeepers.
In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, Ambassador Davide said the Filipino police officer was trying to retrieve a motorcycle that was earlier reported to have been stolen when he was beaten up by a mob on Nov. 19, 2007.
In Kosovo, eight PNP officers were injured in two vehicular accidents that took place within hours of each other on Nov. 20 due to poor weather conditions, said the press statement.
The mission’s spokesman, Second Secretary Elmer G. Cato, said the Philippines is currently the top contributor of police officers to UN peacekeeping operations, with 144 officers serving in the UN Integrated Mission in Timor Leste (UNMIT) and 55 in the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
A total of 119 other police officers are deployed in the UN missions in Afghanistan, Cote d’ Ivoire, Georgia, Haiti, Liberia, Nepal, and the Sudan, Cato said in the statement.
In addition, the Philippines has more than 300 military officers and enlisted personnel serving in Cote d’ Ivoire, Haiti, Liberia, the Sudan and Timor-Leste, he said.
