The Philippines has expressed "regret" over the conclusion of the 10th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as it said the gathering ended "without even a flicker of hope" to ensure peace amid threats that some countries may resort to the use of nuclear weapons.
For the Philippines, the lack of consensus among States Parties during the conference "is a missed opportunity to affirm that the NPT and multilateralism are on sound ground."
The country lamented about the outcome of the conference as it said "we needed this hope."
"The Philippines actively engaged with States Parties during this Review Cycle in good faith, like all others who believed that even a small margin of movement takes us forward, closer to meeting the aspirations...to see in the near future the elimination of the nuclear weapons," it said in its final statement dated August 26.
The Philippines—a member of the non-alignment movement (NAM), a group of states not aligned nor against any major power bloc—expressed concern that nukes do not actually "make us more secure."
Rather, "they put us all in peril."
Regretful of the outcome, the Philippines asserted that "a credible and effective NPT serves the interest of all and the work of getting Nuclear Weapons States back in the urgent business of eliminating nukes must continue."
Nevertheless, the Philippines gave assurance that it "will not lose hope" for the sake of the Treaty and "a safe and secure world."
"We will continue to attach high importance to this Treaty and the work of States Parties to keep it effective and credible, to ensure that peaceful uses of nuclear energy serve the agency of development and to meet its objective of eliminating nuclear weapons," it also said.