AFP sends off 320 officers and soldiers to Liberia and Haiti for peacekeeping mission

AFP sends off 320 officers and soldiers to Liberia and Haiti for peacekeeping mission
By Ronron
January 12, 2007

Manila - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will send again within this month a new batch of officers and soldiers to Liberia and Haiti to form part of the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Mission.

AFP Public Information Officer (PIO) Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said 165 officers and enlisted personnel will go to Liberia on January 24th, and 155 others will fly to Haiti on January 29th.

He said the mission will stay there for six months, replacing the current batch of troops whose tour-of-duty ends this month.

“We belong to a bigger body, like the United Nations. And, of course, being a member of that organization,… we have some responsibilities for that and one is sending our contingent to perform peacekeeping mission,” Bacarro explained.

Bacarro said a send-off ceremony for the troops was held at 9am yesterday at Camp Aguinaldo, presided over by AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Antonio Romero.

He said the troops for Liberia will be under the command of Col. Francisco Patrimonio, while those bound for Haiti will be led by Col. Romeo Gan.

The troops sent to UN peacekeeping missions abroad receive a 1,000 US dollar monthly allowance from the international body, apart from their regular monthly salaries from the Philippine government./DMS