Thank you, Mister Chair,
The Philippines associates itself with the statement delivered by Indonesia on behalf of NAM and by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on behalf of ASEAN.
No aspiration nor ambition can justify the use of weapons that destroy indiscriminately and completely. These weapons of death put everyone at mortal risk, especially if they fall in the hands of terrorists.
Thus, the Philippines is steadfast in its commitment to upholding, enriching, and strengthening global governance structures that prohibit the use of weapons of mass destruction and prevent their proliferation. These exigencies emphasize the necessity of robust strategic trade management at the national level and international cooperation in reinforcing global nonproliferation norms.
We participate in the processes at all levels to effectively and comprehensively implement the Chemical Weapons Convention and Biological Weapons Convention, the latter of which marks its 50th anniversary this year. We continue to pursue regional cooperation to advance the goals of these conventions. Together with the U.S. and the ROK, we hosted this year a table-top exercise on response to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons under the framework of the ASEAN Regional Forum.
We remain committed to the full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1540. For this purpose, we established a Strategic Trade Management Office, which implements our relevant nonproliferation obligations. We benefit from multilateral export control regimes, which are an essential component of the global nonproliferation architecture.
Weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery, related equipment and technology are rapidly developing and getting more sophisticated. National strategic trade controls should continuously respond to evolving threats to international security. It is equally important to ensure that global processes, including multilateral export control regimes, remain technically driven and insulated from politicization. Measures should be explored to make these regimes more inclusive, especially with regard to relevant information that could advance national controls on transferring and using strategic regimes. Further, politically driven unilateral measures must not unduly restrain international cooperation on peaceful uses.
We support the Secretary-General’s call to reimagine our efforts in WMD disarmament in the context of development. There is space for taking further steps to unlock the synergies between the disarmament paradigm and the Sustainable Development Goals. International cooperation on peaceful uses would benefit from the strengthening of international organizations that are committed to maintaining the proper balance between peaceful uses and nonproliferation, such as IAEA and OPCW, and the institutionalization of the BWC, including the operationalization of Article X.
I thank you, Mister Chair.