MANILA, Philippines — Before leaving for his new post at the United Nations, Philippine ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Libran Cabactulan received a warm farewell from the Filipino community.
Online news site Khaleej Times reported that the Filipino community gave him a farewell party at the St. Joseph Church.
Cabactulan is to depart from the UAE this week to take up his new assignment as president of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Preparatory Committee.
At the party, he said his new assignment would take him to member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is due to attend the NAM's summit in Egypt.
In July 2008, the Philippine government endorsed Cabactulan as president of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Preparatory Committee. Cabactulan had ended his six-year term as envoy to UAE.
Last April, the 118 member-countries of NAM endorsed his candidature. Last May, the 198 countries involved in the treaty elected him president during their third preparatory conference in New York.
He and wife Remedios Fe asked Filipino leaders and the priests present to pray for him to be able to do the huge task ahead of him to spread global peace.
“I have to go to different countries to consult heads of state on what they want for the review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty next year. This treaty was negotiated in 1966, but it came into operation in 1995 and the decision to review it every five years. It was reviewed in 2000, then in 2005," he said.
He said the visit of United States President Barack Obama to Moscow to meet Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for striking a deal on arms replacement and arms reduction is part of the ongoing preparation for next year’s review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Also, he urged all Filipinos to do their best to get the Filipino Expatriates (FilEx) Inc. going, calling it as “his legitimate son that should bear fruit for everyone." FilEx Inc. is a foundation he helped set up to assist Filipinos needing financial, medical and legal support in UAE.
During the farewell party, a dance and messages of gratitude from over 60 Philippine organizations were dedicated to Cabactulan. - GMANews.TV
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