Ambassador Antonio M. Lagdameo delivers a statement on the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council during a debate at the United Nations General Assembly (Photo Credit: New York UN Photo Library)
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK, 18 November 2022 - At the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations participated in a plenary debate on the ‘Equitable Representation on and Increase in the Membership of the Security Council and Other Matters Related to the Security Council’ led by the Co-Chairs of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN), Ambassador and Permanent Representative Tarek Albania of Kuwait and Ambassador and Permanent Representative Micharl Mlynar of Slovak Republic.
Philippine Ambassador and Permanent Representative Antonio M. Lagdameo congratulated and expressed support for the new Co-Chairs of IGN, noting that, “Continuing the efforts of your predecessors will not only place a spotlight on the importance of the Security Council reform, but will also enhance the odds of making tangible reforms in the Security Council.”
“We emphasize the need to move from generalities to specificities, by being more specific on the measures which could be recommended to the Council. It would, in the end, if adopted lead to greater transparency and predictability,” Ambassador Lagdameo stated.
Ambassador Lagdameo also underscored the Philippines’ views on specific aspects of Security Council reform, such as the relationship between the General Assembly and the Security Council as institutions and the relationship between the Council and non-members of the Council; the issuance of annual report of the Security Council; the need to improve access of non-members to the Council's decision-making process and the preference to move beyond the Arria Formula, and the interaction between the non-members and the subsidiary organs.
The Philippines has actively engaged in the IGN sessions on Security Council reform and the various initiatives of past Chairs of the IGN process. During the general debate of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. stated that “our continued solidarity will also benefit from a reformed and more inclusive Security Council and an empowered General Assembly that can hold the Council to account.” President Marcos further said that the experiences of the Philippines “in building peace and forging new paths of cooperation can enrich the work of the Security Council.” END