EDITORIAL
Although their countries are 8,788 kilometers away from each other and located in the outer reaches of two continents, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have a lot in common. One of the binding ties of the two leaders is their closeness to the United States.
But going by the press releases of the Presidential Communications Office, Marcos and Zelenskyy did not talk about the US involvement in the Russian-Ukraine war, now ongoing for over a year. Nor they talk about the saber-rattling being done by US defense and navy officials in the South China Sea, giving the impression that it is the United States and not the Philippines which is in the forefront of the flashpoint in the South China Sea.
The two leaders earlier attended the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Shangri-La Singapore although on separate days, and did not have an opportunity to talk there, even at the sidelines of the event.
Zelenskyy’s visit must have been an afterthought, since he was already in Singapore which is just less than four hours by airplane from Manila. So, why not put in another four hours of travel and visit Bongbong in Manila? It could be a rare conversation to discuss America and the geopolitics now obtaining in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Philippines’ bilateral relations with Ukraine began with a formal agreement in 1992. Neither country has a resident ambassador. Ukraine has a non-resident ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while the Philippines is represented by its embassy in Warsaw, Poland.
Zelenskyy might have realized that it is about time to assign a resident Ukrainian ambassador in Manila, so he came over to discuss it with Bongbong. But this is not a very compelling reason for a visit, especially so because it was unannounced, as diplomatic postings can be tackled through letters and phone calls between both countries’ ministries of foreign affairs.
Another item discussed was Zelenskyy’s request to Bongbong to send Filipino mental health workers to Ukraine to help ensure the welfare and mental health of their soldiers and their families amid the crisis in their country.
Because of the war, there is need for more mental health workers to take care of military personnel coming home from the frontlines. Zelenskyy talked about the difficulties suffered by their soldiers who find it hard to reintegrate to society and rejoin their families—even to study or work—without proper guidance by mental health professionals.
“That is something that I think we are able to offer,” President Marcos told Zelenskyy, referring to Filipino mental health workers after the Ukrainian President emphasized the need for more mental health workers in their country. Marcos stressed that “the Philippines is quite well-known in healthcare in terms of providing assistance,” which is part of the country’s commitment to the United Nations (UN) for the peacekeeping process.
“I am happy to do all that we can to make sure that we can help especially the civilians and the innocents that are involved in the war. This is something that comes naturally to the Philippines so this will be something that we could pursue,” he added.
Several weeks ago, the Chargé d'affaires Denys Mykhailiuk of the Ukraine embassy in Malaysia invited Filipino international law experts and forensic specialists to join team documenting the crimes committed against Ukraine amid the ongoing war.
He reported the thousands of civilian deaths and continuous destruction of properties in Ukraine as the world marks one year since Russia’s offensive began on Feb. 24, 2022.
“There is no legal mechanism yet to force Russia into the international trial,” Mykhailiuk told reporters. “We hope that many nations will join our efforts by sending their forensic specialists as well as by sending their international law specialists and we think that the Republic of the Philippines has wonderful expertise here,” he added.
Interested forensic experts, he said, would be working on the liberated territories in Ukraine to identify and document the Ukrainians killed and buried in mass graves.
Although not discussed, this invitation further sealed the close friendship between the Philippines and Ukraine.