Role in UN Security Council questioned
The Philippines' election as a permanent member of the UN Security Council may result in regional tensions due to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's stated support of US foreign policy, observers said yesterday.
House foreign relations committee chairman Apolinario Lozada said he had no doubt that the Philippines would back Washington's policy on terror 'because that is how [Arroyo] looks at the whole thing and that is where our foreign policy seems to be anchored'.
Mr Lozada noted that the Philippines, which is to occupy the seat reserved for the Asian group of nations, 'should voice the interests of the Asian group and not just of the Philippines'.
But he noted it would be 'a difficult balancing act' because Malaysia and Indonesia's viewpoints have to be considered.
Last June, Mrs Arroyo delivered a speech in Tokyo echoing the US position on the international body.
'Critics have long described the current setup of the United Nations Security Council as patently undemocratic, grossly outmoded, hand-tied and mostly impotent,' she said.
