008 ~ The Peace Offensive

The 30th of November is designated as the Filipino people’s day for honoring compatriot Andres Bonifacio, the bolo-brandishing hero of yore, who put life and limb on the line to the cause of Motherland’s independence, sovereignty, sobriety, and preservation.

There should also be a 24-hour nationwide observance of the Philippines' standard bearers who fleshed out Motherland’s contributions to international peace and regional stability, they who would attack the problem wielding nothing but the proverbial peace pipe, and a non-hostile solution.

There’s the register that contains the names of more than a thousand PNP international contingent-members who have endured some of the world’s worst crises with maximum tolerance. [Please refer to the Contingent Roll in the main website.]

Here’s an enumeration of the host areas attended by the PNP Contingent:

CAMBODIA (1992-93)
- UNTAC, the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia

HAÏTI (1994-95; 2004-present)
- Operation Uphold Democracy in Haïti
- UNMIH, the UN Mission in Haïti
- MINUSTAH, la Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti

TIMOR-LESTE (1999-present)
- UNAMET, the UN Mission in East Timor
- UNTAET, the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor
- UNMISET, the UN Mission of Support in Timor-Leste
- UNOTIL, the UN Office in Timor-Leste
- UNMIT*, the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste

KOSOVO (1999-present)
- UNMIK, the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo

IRAQ (2003-04)
- PHCI, the Philippine Humanitarian Contingent to Iraq

LIBERIA (2004-present)
- UNMIL, the UN Mission in Liberia

AFGHANISTAN (2004-present)
- UNAMA, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan

SUDAN (2005-present)
- UNMIS, the UN Mission in Sudan

CÔTE D’IVOIRE (2005-present)
- ONUCI, l’Opération des Nations Unies en Côte d’Ivoire

NEPAL (2007)
- UNMIN, the UN Mission in Nepal

Since 3 April 1992, the PNP Contingent has committed over three million (wo)man-hours to global peacekeeping and humanitarian purposes. From a statistical point of view, the energy spent could have covered at least three-and-a-half years’ worth of round-the-clock, all-out “felt police presence” in all seventeen cities and municipalities within the National Capital Region, and in all 78 provinces spread over the sixteen other regions, simultaneously.

But as government and people say, there is the time to attend to the needy beyond one’s own borders.

There’s a time for giving as much as for taking. The sacrifice and selflessness and all sorts of good graces shared with external populations always have a way of coming around.


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*This very day, several PNP officers mark the end of their extended service with UNMIT. Like the thousandsomething before them scattered in the overseas beats, these Filipino policemen and -women received their UN Service Medals and individualized recognition certificates from their superiors, most of whom were vocal about not being able to capture the mission’s ideals without the trademark efficiency of members of the PNP Contingent.