PGMA confers Sikatuna award on Sen. Lugar
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Washington DC -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today (April 14 in Manila) conferred on Republican Senator
Richard Lugar, the United States’ most senior senator and current chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, the Order of Sikatuna award with the rank of Datu (Gold Distinction) for promoting and
strengthening US-Philippine relations.
The Order of Sikatuna is a prestigious Philippine government award given to diplomats, officials and nationals
of foreign states who have rendered “conspicuous services in fostering, developing and strengthening relations
between their country and the Philippines”.
Lugar, 78, from the state of Indiana, is the longest serving senator (since 1976 for six terms) and is widely
known for his foreign and US security policy advocacies.
Many Filipinos recognize him for advancing Philippine advocacies and interests in American public and private
circles.
Lugar is also well remembered for his role as the emissary of President Ronald Reagan with a mission to
resolve a political crisis in the Philippines following the fraud-laden snap presidential elections in 1986 fought
between then President Ferdinand E. Marcos and Corazon C. Aquino, widow of martyred Sen. Benigno Aquino
Jr.
Lugar then headed a US team to look at the election results and was convinced that Aquino was the rightful
winner. Marcos’ refusal to yield power eventually led to the l986 EDSA people power revolution that unseated
him.
President Arroyo conferred the award during simple ceremony at the Fairmont Hotel where she was staying for
the April 12-13 Nuclear Security Summit among 49 nations hosted by US President Barack Obama.
Before accepting the award, Lugar and President Arroyo talked briefly of the fateful leading to before the l986
revolt.
Arroyo thanked Lugar for his continuing support for Philippine defense and security aspirations, including the
persistent Filipino lobby for more benefit legislations from the US Congress for Filipino World War II veterans.
Part of the Award citation, mentioned Lugar’s “ steadfast friendship with the Philippines and his determined
advocacy for a strong Philippine-American alliance; for his principled and consistent support for Philippine
freedom, which was invaluable in securing the return of democracy to the Philippines in 1986; for being a strong
supporter of the cause of seeing justice and recognition for the Filipino Veterans of the Second World War; for
being a leader in reducing the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; for his advocacy for free trade
with ASEAN; and for his commitment to the peace process in the Philippines and to the strengthening of
Philippine defense capabilities, particularly in his capacity as former Chairman and now Ranking Member of the
U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.”
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PGMA bats for heightened global nuclear security
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WASHINGTON D.C. -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo batted here today for heightened nuclear security
among nations, and served warning that nuclear materials can fall into wrong hands that may launch terror
attacks of catastrophic proportions.
The Philippine leader cited Presidents Obama and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia for moving closer to the
reduction of their respective nuclear arsenals through a historic nuclear arms reduction agreement signed last
week.
“Mr. President, our duty at this Nuclear Security Summit is to realize that bad things can happen. The world
remains a dangerous place,” President Arroyo said in an explanatory message to the just-concluded two-day
gathering of 49 state leaders upon the invitation of US President Barack Obama.
“As leaders, we must not just talk responsibly, but act decisively,” President Arroyo stressed. She added that
cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),in preparing and implementing nuclear security
plans and ratifying the IAEA additional protocol would be “decisive action.”
Since the infamous 9/11 terrorist attack on US soil, there has been heightened concern that nuclear devices
might fall “not just into the hands of a rogue nation, but non-state terrorists or terrorist organizations.”
“We come together today in time of deep concern by all nations and all peoples who expect us to act to protect
our people from letting nuclear weapons fall into the hands of individual committed to apocalyptic ideas,” the
Chief Executive said.
President Arroyo informed the Summit participants that the Philippines’ National Nuclear Security Plan, finalized
last year in cooperation with the IAEA, was based on three lines of defense: prevention, detection, and
response. She said implementation of the Plan would be the Philippines’ contribution to the establishment of a
global nuclear security region.
An example of prevention, she said, is the proper security of all Category 1 and Category 2 radioactive sources
in the Philippine National Research Institute (PNRI) and its licensees such as hospitals and industries.
An example of detection is the mega-ports initiative with the United States Department of Energy (USDOE)
which, President Arroyo said, has equipped the Port of Manila with radiation portal monitors.
The President said that an example of response is the national radiological emergencies arising from
malevolent acts involving radioactive materials.
She called on the IAEA to “maintain a balanced approach among its three pillars: science and technology, safety
and security, and safeguards and verification.
A foolproof nuclear security arrangement, the President said, will require a wide range of actions, including the
Additional Protocol of the Strengthened Safeguards System “which better enables the IAEA to verify whether a
State is living up to its international commitments not to use nuclear programs for nuclear weapons purposes.”
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PGMA feted for Coral Triangle efforts
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WASHINGTON DC -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo today (April 14 in Manila) received the ICCF Teddy
Roosevelt International Conservation Award from a prestigious US group in recognition of her forefront efforts
and advocacies in support of the Coral Triangle Initiative.
The Award was conferred during a brief but well-attended ceremony organized at Capitol Hill’s Cannon House
Building by the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF), a group of conservationists which has
become a major donor organization for environmental activities worldwide.
The Coral Triangle is a marine region largely in the Pacific covering 76 percent of world marine species in the
territories of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.
In the vast coral region, President Arroyo has advocated and spearheaded a multi-nation effort to preserve and
protect marine resources so as to ensure stable marine food resources while doing sustainable environmental
protection.
With the Capitol Hill conferment of the Teddy Roosevelt award, President Arroyo joined three other world
personalities who had received the ICCF honors namely: Rob Portman, director of the US Office of Management
and Budget (1960); former British Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain (2007); and Prince Albert II of
Monaco (2009).
A grouping of non-government groups worldwide with congressional members and donors in Washington DC
and various world capitals, the ICCF said it has recognized the innovative leadership of President Arroyo in her
effort to protect the oceans and preserve biodiversity of the Coral Triangle.
Those who presented the award were Monique Barbut, a French and Chief Executive Officer of the Global
Environmental Facility, an ICCF affiliate; Senator Ed Royce; and Carter Roberts, chief executive officer of the
World Wide Fund (WWF).
The affair coincided with the declaration by the ICCF of 2010 as Year of Biodiversity.
In her acceptance message, President Arroyo said that as the leader of 85 million Filipinos spread over 7,100
islands, her first responsibility is to provide the people especially the poor with food and resources which she
said can be done by harmonizing economic growth and the needs of healthy environment.
She said that in her Coral Triangle initiatives, she found a moral obligation to help preserve the beauty and
bounty of nature for the next generation.
President Arroyo said the award, named after conservationist US President Theodore Roosevelt, inspired her to
call on her compatriots all over the world to join conservationist activities.
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