IF Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had his way, the United Nations should be abolished and a United Nations of Asia be established instead to protect, in his view, the interest of Asian nations, including the Philippines, from Western intervention.
Alvarez made the remarks Wednesday night as he commented on the US intelligence report naming President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and pronouncements on revolutionary government and nationwide martial law as among “regional threats.”
Alvarez, who also comes from Mindanao like Duterte, insited in a radio interview that it was the US which actually posed threats to the entire world.
Alvarez said there was nothing to worry about the US intelligence report as the threat really came from the US, not from Asia.
“Now, for me, let us just be here in Asia—United Nations of Asia, right? And we can take care of our interest in the region and we don’t need Western nations to interfere in our internal affairs,” he said in Filipino.
Alvarez did not say how the United Nations of Asia would work as a group, who would be included and did not provide any clue if Asian countries already in the United Nations—like Japan, People’s Republic of China, India, Vietnam—would be included even if they would not cease membership in the United Nations, where the Philippines is a co-founding member.
Alvarez noted that while the US and the Philippines have forged a strong diplomatic relationship, there was still a need to create an allegiance with other Asian nations to protect their interests.
Alvarez called on the Department of Foreign Affairs to act upon the interference of the US in the country’s sovereignty.
But Alvarez was silent on what China was doing in the West Philippiner Sea and in the Benham Rise east of Luzon.
Sought for comment, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said the Palace respected Alvarez’s position.
