Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo will campaign for the Philippines' non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the term 2027-2028 as he is set to arrive in New York on Sunday, Sept. 22, for the UN General Assembly and other related events.
According to Manalo, it will be an important mission for him to campaign for the country's UNSC seat as the Philippines "is making a positive headway."
He expressed confidence that the Philippines could make such a commitment based on its track record of "being a dependable partner, pathfinder and peacemaker in world affairs, with eight decades of multilateral diplomacy experience as a founding member of the UN and having previously sat in the UNSC four times."
During his attendance at the UN General Assembly, he will also deliver the Philippine National Statement in front of world leaders and other high-level foreign government officials and present the country’s advocacies and priorities in line with the agenda of the UN General Assembly’s 79th Session.
Manalo will be in New York until Sept. 29 for several high-level engagements. Aside from UNGA, he will sit down for bilateral talks with UN General Secretary Antonio Guterrest and UNGA President Philemon Yang as well as foreign ministries of different countries.
He will also attend the Summit of the Future and the High Level Week.
"I will participate in the Summit of the Future, a high-level event, bringing world leaders together to forge a new international consensus on how to deliver a better world for present and future generations," he said.
"The Summit, under the theme "Multilateral Solutions for a Better Tomorrow," aims to strengthen global cooperation in addressing the most pressing challenges of our time," he added.
During the Summit, Manalo said, the Philippines is eagerly anticipating the adoption of the Pact for the Future.
He said it is a pivotal step towards revitalizing multilateralism and steering global cooperation towards a shared vision of peace, security, and sustainable development.
"The Philippines is committed to strengthening the United Nations' role in addressing today’s complex crises, such as conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, climate change, economic inequality, and emerging threats in digital, geopolitical, space, and maritime domains," he said.
After the Summit, Manalo will join the High-Level Week.
It is a platform for the global community to deliberate on and commit to addressing pressing international issues such as climate change, health, global security and the attainment of sustainable development goals (SDGs) including through the regional and national endeavors.
"The Philippines is a steadfast champion of multilateralism, recognizing it as the most potent instrument for addressing global challenges," he said.
"Since 1945, we have aligned ourselves with the community of nations, upholding multilateral cooperation as the key to preserving peace and security," he added.
Manalo will lead the Philippine delegation, composed of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga; Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman; Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire; National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos; and climate Change Commission Commissioner Rachel Anne Herrera, during the events.
"The entire Philippine delegation has a busy calendar in New York, which will include many high-level climate-, health- , finance-, disarmament-, security-, environment-, development-related meetings and side-events," Manalo said.