155 Pinoy peacekeepers in Haiti receive UN medals

The 155 Filipino peacekeepers serving with the United Nations (UN) Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) were awarded UN medals at recent a ceremony in Port-au-Prince.   The peacekeepers from the Philippines have been deployed in Haiti since October 2004, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a news release.   "Apart from providing security, they also carried out various activities to benefit the local population including providing free medical consultations and treatment, food distribution and cleaning up of the area around the main streets of the capital," the DFA said.   Those present at the event on February 24 included:

• Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti Mariano Fernández Amunátegui
• MINUSTAH Force Commander Brigadier General Jorge Gabriel Gerrero
• Deputy Commissioner of the UN Police (UNPOL) Colonel Tabasky Diouf, and
• Philippine contingent commander Colonel George Fernandez.

  Some 1,200 Filipino peacekeepers are now working for world peace under the UN banner, the DFA said.   Aside from Haiti, Filipino peacekeepers are deployed in Liberia, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Ivory Coast, in the Golan Heights, and within the Military Observer Group between India and Pakistan. - VVP, GMA News