Press Release
March 2, 2022

Dispatch from Crame No. 1226:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on DFA's laudable UNGA vote against the Ukraine invasion

3/2/22

I commend the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for the vote at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) signifying the Philippines' condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The DFA is all the more to be praised for this action in light of contrary pronouncements from non-foreign service officials of the Duterte Administration saying that the Philippines should stay neutral on Russia's military adventurism in Ukraine.

Of course, the Philippines cannot stay neutral on this barbarous invasion of a peaceful nation without forfeiting its place in the international community that is the United Nations. Unprovoked and without justifiable cause, Russia's premeditated attack on Ukraine violates the UN Charter and constitutes the crime of aggression which is a crime against humanity. No nation that upholds the values enshrined in the UN Charter and that calls for an international rules-based regime should remain standing on the sidelines while a powerful nation rolls its tanks into, and bombs the cities of a weaker one.

I laud the DFA for its resounding affirmation that staying neutral does not bode well for our standing in the global community as it goes against our commitments to uphold the fundamental ideals of peace, freedom and justice. We should proclaim unequivocally to the world, as the DFA has, that powerful nations should not act as bullies against their smaller neighbors. We should be clear that there is no room for blackmail using superior might and overwhelming force to intimidate, coerce, and threaten sovereign nations as they charter their own course in the international stage as chosen by their people.

In addition to the DFA's UNGA statement, the Philippines should categorically call on Russia to stop its invasion of Ukraine. The Russian army should withdraw from Ukraine immediately and leave its people in peace. Ukraine is no longer part of Russia, and longs for its own future as a sovereign nation in its own right. No country can stop another from choosing its own path.

I offer my prayers for the people of Ukraine, and for the enlightenment of the Russian leadership to end this war.

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_1226)

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