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The Philippines is committed to ratifying the United Nations treaty to ban nuclear weapons, President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday.
In his speech during the high-level general debate of the UN General Assembly, the president explained that nothing justifies the use of nuclear weapons, which he described as “weapons of death.”
“The global health crisis has further complicated the global security environment. But no aspiration or ambition can justify the use of weapons that destroy indiscriminately and completely, ”Duterte said.
“There is no excuse for the deaths that a nuclear war could cause or the reckless use of chemical and biological weapons that can cause massive destruction,” he added.
Duterte said nuclear weapons only put the world at “mortal risk, especially if they fall into the hands of terrorists without a shred of humanity in their souls.”
“We call on all Member States to fully implement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions,” said the President.
“I have asked the Senate of the Philippines to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It is important to highlight that we were among the first to sign it, ”he added.
Under the 1987 Constitution, an international treaty or agreement will only be valid and effective with the consent of at least two-thirds of all members of the Senate.
In 2017, 122 UN member states, including the Philippines, voted in favor of a treaty to ban nuclear weapons despite opposition from nuclear-weapon states.
At least 45 countries have ratified the treaty, five fewer than the 50 needed for the pact to enter into force.
Under the treaty, signatory states must not develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, store, use, or threaten to use nuclear weapons.
It also prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons on national territory and the provision of assistance to any state in carrying out prohibited activities.
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