By Priam F. Nepomuceno
MANILA, Sept. 10 (PNA) — The Armed Forces announced that the ranking Filipino officer of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), who resigned from his post due to differences of opinion with his commander, is now back in the Philippines.
Major Gen. Domingo Tutaan, military spokesman, said Col. James Ezra Enriquez, the UNDOF chief-of-staff, has arrived in the Philippines Wednesday afternoon.
He said that Enriquez requested his repatriation.
Tutaan said the Filipino UNDOF chief-of-staff will report to Armed Forces chief-of-staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Thursday.
He declined to comment on whether Enriquez’s reports will focus on the Golan Heights stand-off.
Enriquez earlier tendered his resignation due to differences in opinion regarding the handling of Singha of the Golan Heights stand-off crisis.
The UNDOF commander earlier ordered the Filipino contingents in Positions 68 and 69 upon learning the 44 Fijian peacekeepers were captured by Syrian rebels after surrendering their weapons last Aug. 28.
UNDOF commander Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha, however, rejected Enriquez’s resignation.
Instead, the Indian commander has placed Enriquez on administrative leave until the repatriation of the 331-strong Filipino contingent in the Golan Heights is repatriated this October. (PNA)