AMBASSADOR LIBRAN N. CABACTULAN RECEIVES “HALL OF FAME AWARD” IN CHICAGO

The Philippine Consulate General in Chicago is pleased to report that Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, has received the “International Award in Public Service” from Via Times Publisher Ms. Veronica Leighton on the occasion of the “17th Annual Chicago Filipino American Hall of Fame 2011” at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in downtown Chicago last Saturday, 23 April 2011. He joined other eighteen (18) awardees in the fields of medicine, business, sports, community leadership, the arts and the academe.

Ambassador Cabactulan has been recognized for his leadership in international diplomacy and for his role as the Philippine Permanent Representative at the United Nations in New York. His foreign assignments were in Geneva, Brussels, New York, Sydney and the United Arab Emirates. Ambassador Cabactulan received a “Presidential Citation” for his role in the repatriation of Filipinos from Lebanon during the Lebanon-Israeli crisis in 2006, and was conferred the “Order of Sikatuna with the Rank of Datu” (the highest Philippine decoration for exemplary achievements in foreign service and international relations) for his successful presidency of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New York.

In his keynote speech, Ambassador Cabactulan emphasized the importance of promoting peace and greater understanding in international relations. He said that: “countries must work together and come out with concrete and workable plans for international peace and security and for the prosperity and progress of all”. “We all share the same humanity, and, therefore, a common destiny or destruction,” he said. He stated that since human nature, as appreciated by such prominent thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, is always at war, with chaos, destruction or annihilation as the logical consequence, humanity faces a bleak future. He further stated, however, that we can obviate such a future if we can work together and produce creative solutions and plans of action because as Rene Dubois, a Pulitzer winner, had said “a planned future always prevails over a logical future”.

In weaving in specific references to the architecture of his remarks, Ambassador Cabactulan discussed several issues before the United Nations which are also of great interest to the Philippine government, such as nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, trafficking of persons and piracy. He referred to the agreement to convene a conference to consider the establishment of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons as well as other weapons of mass destruction, a very important issue considering that more than 2.2 million Filipinos are living in the Middle East. He discussed the Philippine initiative at the UN that led to the establishment of a Global Fund to assist victims of human trafficking. He also referred to the membership of the Philippines in the UN Security Council created Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, piracy being a very important issue to us because we have a considerable number of sea-based overseas workers and quite a number them have been victimized by Somali pirates. He said that the three pillars of Philippine foreign policy relating to national sovereignty, economic diplomacy and protection of Filipino nationals abroad, as recently enunciated by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Del Rosario, are clear guidelines on matters or issues being pursued by the Philippines in the United Nations.