Filipino peacekeepers abroad were honored at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), with a medal presented to the widow of a peacekeeper who died in the line of duty.

DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo presented the Dag Hammarskjold Medal to Immaculate Batalla, widow of Philippine Army Lt. Col. Renerio Batalla, who died of malaria on Oct. 24 last year.

“The Dag Hammarskjold Medal is a posthumous award to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the United Nations,” the DFA said.

An article on the DFA website (www.dfa.gov.ph) said Batalla died while serving in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan.

The peacekeepers were honored at the Inter-Agency Commemoration of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers held at the DFA in Pasay City.

In attendance were acting UN Resident Coordinator Dr. Soe Nyunt-U; Interior Undersecretary Melchor Rosales; Defense Undersecretary Alberto Valenzuela Jr.; and senior officials of the Philippine National Police.

At present, the DFA said the Philippines is the third largest troop contributor in Southeast Asia and ranked 30th in the world.

The Philippine government is now considering increasing deployment of women peacekeepers in accordance with this year’s theme of greater involvement by women in UN peacekeeping missions.

The DFA noted the Philippines had sent peacekeeping missions all over the world beginning with the air force deployment in support of the UN Mission in the Congo in 1963.

Subsequent missions were sent to Afghanistan, Burundi, Cambodia, Cote d’Ivoire, Georgia, Haiti, Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Nepal, Sudan and Timor-Leste.

Last April 16, President Arroyo signed Proclamation No. 1755 declaring May 29 of each year as the “International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in the Philippines” as designated in Resolution 57/129 by the United Nations General Assembly of 2002.

In October 2008, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Romulo jointly signed the Memorandum of Understanding allowing the Philippines to participate in the UN Standby Arrangement System (UNSAS) to provide resources for peacekeeping operations within agreed response times.