The Philippines, along with 52 other States, is among the first countries to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said on Monday.
The TPNW is the “first globally applicable multilateral agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons on the basis of international humanitarian law,’’ Pimentel, chairman of the Senate foreign relations, explained.
Pimentel III stressed these points as the Senate, by a 23-0 vote, adopted during its plenary session a resolution expressing its concurrence to the Treaty.
As a signatory to the treaty, Pimentel said the Philippines has much to gain, including the TPNW’s provisions on victim assistance and environmental remediation.
He cited an environmental research that warned of a global climate cooling capable of adversely affecting food production for years even with a “limited regional nuclear war.”
The same research warned that a large-scale nuclear war could “create ice-age like conditions that might eliminate most of the human race.”
“Nuclear weapons do not discriminate. We cannot afford another nuclear arms race. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in Japan are horrors that should never be repeated,” Pimentel stressed.
For her part, Senator Risa Hontiveros said nuclear weapons have “humanitarian and environmental consequences that span decades and cross generations.”
“The TPNW is groundbreaking and a step in the direction of creating an international norm of conduct. With 86 nations signing it and 52 so far ratifying it – perhaps we will be the 53rd – the collective voice of humanity is clear: nuclear weapons should be banned forever, as we have banned landmines and biological and chemical weapons,” she said.