Thread by @PTVph

NOW: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte participates in the high-level general debate at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

PRRD: I am honored to address you today on behalf of the Filipino people of the 75th anniversary of the UN.

President Duterte: The invisible enemy that is COVID-19 has brought about an unfamiliar global landscape and unleashed a crisis without precedent

PRRD: It is the biggest test the world and UN face since World War II.

PRRD: While it has brought relief to so many countries and peoples around the world, it now finds itself saddled by a virus that has taken many lives and wrecked economies and social order.

PRRD: We are at the crossroads. How we address COVID-19 will define our future

PRRD: For the Philippines, this means putting up all of the peoples of UN at the core of this response.

PRRD: We will need to ask hard and fundamental questions about the mission and vision that the UN conceptualized 75 years ago

PRRD: We need to ask ourselves whether or not we have remained true and faithful to the UN principles and ideas

PRRD: In the light of the realities of the present, the Philippines grieves with all of the families all over the world who lost their loved ones to this horrible virus.

PRRD: We salute all frontliners who put up their lives on the line even in countries not their own

PRRD: COVID-19 knows no border. It knows no nationality, it knows no race. It knows no gender, it knows no age.

PRRD: The Philippines values the role that the UN plays in its fight against the pandemic.

PRRD: We welcome the launch of the UN COVID response and recovery fund. Ensuring universal access to anti-COVID-19 technologies and products is pivotal in the global pandemic recovery

PRRD: The world is in the race to find safe and effective vaccine.

PRRD: When the world finds that vaccine, access to it must not be denied nor withheld. It should be made available to all rich and poor nations alike as a matter of policy.

PRRD: The COVID-19 vaccine must be considered global public good. Let us be clear on this.

PRRD: The Philippines joins our partners in the ASEAN in the non-aligned movement and in raising our collective voice

PRRD: We need a WHO that is quick to coordinate and quicker to respond.

PRRD: The Philippines will do its part in the pooling of global resources. Our health workers are among the best

PRRD: The Philippine government has embarked on an unprecedented repatriation program. More than 345,000 OFWs needed to come home.

PRRD: When elephants fight it is the grass that gets crumpled flat.

PRRD: Given the size and military might of the contenders, we can only imagine and be aghast at the terrible toll on human life and property that shall be inflicted if the world war deteriorates into a real war of nuclear weapons and missiles

PRRD: I therefore call on the stakeholders in the South China Sea, Korean Peninsula, the Middle East and Africa. If we cannot be friends as yet then in God's name let us not hate each other too much.

PRRD: We thank the countries that have provided Filipino migrants with residence permit, access to testing, treatment, and related health services in this pandemic.

PRRD: We brought back most of our seafarers who are stranded because of COVID-19 restrictions.

PRRD: In this times, we need stronger cooperation in promoting and protecting the rights of migrants regardless of their migrant status

PRRD: With the poverty rate reduced at 16.6% and sustained economic growth of 6.4% between 2010 and 2019, the Philippines was on track in becoming an upper-middle income country by the end of 2020 but the pandemic has placed our economy in recession

PRRD: Despite this downward pressure on growth, the Philippines remains committed to this sustainable developing goals

PRRD: Climate change has worsened.

PRRD: People in the developing countries like the Philippines suffered most. We cannot afford to suffer more.

PRRD: We call on all parties, especially those who have not made good their commitment to fight climate change to honor the same. We call on all parties to strengthen communities and peoples for preparedness and resilience.

PRRD: The Philippines will continue to protect the human rights of its people, especially from the scourge of illegal drugs, criminality, and terrorism.

PRRD: A number of interest groups have weaponized human rights some well-meaning, others ill intention

PRRD: They attempt to discredit the functioning institutions and mechanisms if democratic country and a popularly elected government

PRRD: These detractors pass themselves as human rights adovocates while preying on the most vulnerable humans even using children as soldiers or human shields in encounters

PRRD: To move forward, open dialogue and constructive engagement with the UN is the key but this must be done in full respect of objectivity, non-interference, non-selectivity and genuine dialogue

PRRD: Terrorism looms at large...the Philippines will do anything and partner with anyone who would sincerely desire to protect the innocent from terrorism and its manifestations.

PRRD: Our 2020 Anti-Terrorism Act sums up the legal framework by focusing on both terrorism and usual reckless response to it.

PRRD: Its enactment was done pursuant to our committed and strict adherence to the relevant security council resolution, and to the UN global counter terrorism strategy.

PRRD: We remain committed to rebuild stricken community and address the root causes of terrorism and violent extremism in my country

PRRD: We must be mindful of our obligation and commitment to the charter of the UN

PRRD: And as amplified by the 1982 Manila declaration on the peaceful settlement with the national disputes. The Philippines affirmed that commitment with the South China Sea in accordance with the 2016 arbitral award

PRRD: The award is now part of international law. Beyond compromise and beyond reach of passing government to dilute, diminish or abandon.

PRRD: We firmly reject attempts to undermine it.

PRRD: We welcome the increasing number of states that have come in support of the award and what it stands for.

PRRD: The global health crisis has further complicated the global security environment but no aspiration nor ambition can justify the use of weapons that destroy indiscriminately and completely.

PRRD: There is no excuse for deaths that a nuclear war could cause.

PRRD: These weapons of death put us all at mortal risk especially if they fall in the hands of terrorists

PRRD: I have asked the Philippine Senate to ratify the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons and importantly, we were among those who signed.

PRRD: The Philippines has a long history of opening its doors to the refugees

PRRD: The Philippines continues to honor humanitarian tradition in accordance with our obligation under the 1951 Convention of the Status of Refugees and the 1967 protocol.

PRRD: As I have said many times, the doors of the Philippines are open as they have always been to everyone fleeing for safety

PRRD: Let us work together towards ending the conflicts and conditions that force people to flee their homes.

PRRD: We are committed in increasing Philippine footprint in UN peacekeeping operation with increased participation of women

PRRD: To defeat COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, we must work with seamless unity which demands complete mutual trust and the conviction that we will win or lose together.

PRRD: We cannot bring back the dead but we can spare the living. We can build back better, healthier, and more prosperous and just society

PRRD: To this end, we rededicate ourselves to multilateralism. The UN remains humanities essential organization but it is only as effective as we make it.

PRRD: To make significant changes, we need to be bold, we need the same collective courage that finally made the UN a reality 75 years ago.

PRRD: Let us empower UN, reform it to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Let us strengthen it so it can fully deliver its mandate to maintain peace and security, uphold justice and human rights, and promote freedom and social progress for all.

PRRD: After all, we are the United Nations