My Years on the Brink
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The United Nations building in New York (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Thus began my first diplomatic assignment as a novice Third Secretary at Misunphil NY at the Philippine Center on Fifth Avenue and 46th Street. This was at a crucial period in the still smoldering Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union had broken off any meaningful dialogue. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the US boycott of the Olympics in Moscow had put paid to the détente previously proposed by Nixon and Kissinger. A Soviet official had been quoted as saying that the world was close to a nuclear confrontation.
The Philippines—as the death of Ninoy Aquino signaled—was itself in a political crisis that would last till the snap elections and the EDSA rebellion of 1986, which would result in the electoral defeat and the flight of Ferdinand Marcos with his family and the installation of Corazon C. Aquino as the 11th President of the Philippines.
But I am getting ahead of myself. We must rewind to a time when the United Nations still played a central role in the major issues confronting the world in that era. The gleaming postmodern glass building on the East River was the fulcrum of many a political dialogue and resolution. Its annual General Assembly literally stopped traffic when a wide perimeter was blocked off to make way for Heads of State and other dignitaries on their way to this great meeting.
These two threads—the international context of Cold War’s end and the national one of the spectacular Philippine return to democracy—would define my years at the United Nations from 1983 to 1991.
There I was assigned to the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) First Committee, which handled Peace and Security issues. Nuclear disarmament was one of its central issues, in which the Philippines had a special interest as a member of ASEAN and as host to one of the biggest US military bases in the world.
It may have seemed like an esoteric issue to most outside observers, but it was at the very heart of the dangerous nuclear rivalry that took place between the world’s two super-powers and thus, supremely important. The many surrogate low-intensity wars of the late twentieth century stemmed from this competition.
Needless to say, the world four decades ago was vastly different from today. We did not have cellphones, ubiquitous personal laptops, Internet and social media, and many other inventions of convenience today. The world was divided into two ideological blocs led respectively by the United States and the Soviet Union, which defined most political relationships and loyalties. The Third World, led by such nations as Indonesia and Yugoslavia and to which the Philippines belonged, attempted to define a neutral bloc called the Non-Aligned Movement as an alternative to the Communist and the Capitalist (also called “The Free World” or Liberal Democratic) groupings.
The two dominant rival groups were led by iconic figures of the late twentieth century---President Ronald Reagan of the United States and Mikhail Gorbachev, the General Secretary whose movement of perestroika called for reform of Communism in the Soviet Union. The gradual thawing in their relations and eventual renewed dialogue were prodded on their respective sides by Secretary of State George Schulz (who recently passed away at age 100) and Foreign Minister Eduard Schevardnaze.
Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan (Source: Getty Images)
The Philippines under President Marcos was represented by Foreign Secretary Carlos P. Romulo, who consistently headed the Philippine Delegation to the UN General Assembly between September to December each year. As CPR (in the shorthand of affectionate nicknames popular in the DFA) was the first Asian to become President of the UNGA in its earliest years, his diminutive but dignified presence and august name also reminded other countries of the Philippines’ primary role as one of the UN’s founding members.
Carlos P. Romulo (Source: facebook)
Indeed, the Philippines was not lacking of brilliant minds and diplomatic leadership which had made it a leader in Southeast Asia in the postwar era. I had the fortune of backstopping these stellar personalities, as recorded in a book published in 1991 and entitled, “In the National Interest: The Philippines and the United Nations—Issues of Disarmament, Peace and Security, 1986-91.”
In the National Interest: The Philippines and the United Nations—Issues of Disarmament, Peace and Security, 1986-91
Among those who made statements on these issues were Foreign Secretary Raul S. Manglapus, Undersecretaries Jose D. Ingles and Pablo Suarez, Senators Leticia R. Shahani, Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. and Sotero Laurel, Congressmen Jose D. Venecia and Carmencita O. Reyes as well as Ambassadors Sedfrey A. Ordonez, Claudio Teehankee, Hector Villaroel and Nicasio G.Valderrama.
As stated by Secretary Manglapus, “impelled by its Government and Constitution, the Philippine has been most active in supporting peace and disarmament efforts in the United Nations, as well as outside of it in bilateral and multilateral initiatives. It has shown particular concern for such issues as disarmament and development, zones of peace ad nuclear-weapons-free-zones, a total ban on nuclear tests, economic conversion and a comprehensive approach to security...”In the National Interest” is the first attempt to compile representative Philippine statements on these issues. The reader may observe that a new impetus was given to Philippine support for disarmament by the government of President Corazon C. Aquino. Hence, the statements assembled here date from 1986, which also marks the People’s Power movement initiated by the Filipino people.”
The 330-page tome was launched during UN Disarmament Week at the Philippine Mission in 1991 and at the Department of Foreign Affairs later that year.
Book launch at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Pasay City, 1991
Among the honored guests were Undersecretaries Jose D. Ingles and Pablo Suarez, and Madame Beth Day-Romulo. Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr and Congressman Jose De Venecia.
By that time, the Berlin Wall had fallen, and the Philippines was well into its fourth year of its restored democracy. The U.S. military bases would be shuttered in the Philippines after the Mount Pinatubo eruption, and the Philippine Senate’s resolution to close them. In June 1988, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (termed the most sweeping arms control agreement of the Cold War) had been ratified by the Soviet Union and the United States, bringing down the number of nuclear weapons to vastly less threatening proportions. This is the treaty that the United States under President Trump withdrew from in August 2019, an action that the late Secretary Schulz regretted before he passed away.
The number of nuclear weapons states (some of them labeled rogue) has increased from five to nine while biological and chemical weapons have been deployed in local wars with impunity. The United Nations itself has been weakened as a forum and unifying force of action for the world.
Today’s world is no less perilous than in 1983 and in fact, has more challenges with the raging COVID virus pandemic, climate change, unfettered social media, cyberwar and political transformation throughout the world. Other players have taken center stage. Going beyond boundaries and the world of diplomats, sustained and resolute common efforts by nations, individuals, and peoples are imperative to resolve such challenges and pull us all from the brink.
A career diplomat of 35 years, Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. served as Philippine Ambassador to South Africa (2003-2009) and Italy (2011-2014), his last posting before he retired. He is now engaged in writing, traveling and is dedicated to cultural heritage projects.
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