PRESIDENT Duterte will present the Philippines’ positions on global issues such as universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, climate change, human rights including the situation of migrant workers and refugees, and international and regional security developments when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly on September 21.
Malacañang yesterday said the President will join the 76th UN General Assembly from September 21 to 27 that will be held virtually from New York and address the High-Level General Debate on the first day, September 21 between 4 and 6 p.m. (September 22 in Manila between 4 and 6 a.m.).
The debate will be presided by H Abdulla Shahid of Maldives, incoming president of the 76th UNGA, and follow a hybrid format of in-person and virtual attendance of delegates, in view of the evolving situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s session has the theme “Building resilience through hope — to recover from COVID-19, rebuild sustainably, respond to the needs of the planet, respect the rights of people, and revitalize the United Nations.”
This will be Duterte’s second attendance to the UNGA and his last as president.
In September 2020, the President addressed the UN wherein he affirmed the Philippines’ commitment in the South China Sea in accordance with United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
“The (2016) award is now part of international law, beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon. We firmly reject attempts to undermine it. We welcome the increasing number of states that have come in support of the award and what it stands for – the triumph of reason over rashness, of law over disorder, of amity over ambition. This — as it should – is the majesty of the law,” Duterte said during the event.
The Philippines has overlapping maritime claims in parts of the South China Sea with several countries — China, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.
