PH will ratify UN nuclear ban treaty, Duterte tells General Assembly

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte announced early on Wednesday that he had asked the Senate to ratify the United Nations-adopted nuclear ban treaty.

In his first-ever speech before the world body’s General Assembly, Duterte said “no aspiration nor ambition” can justify the use of nuclear weapons.

“There is no excuse for deaths that a nuclear war could cause nor the reckless use of chemical and biological weapons that can cause mass destruction,” Duterte said.

“These weapons of death put us all at mortal risk, especially if they fall in the hands of terrorists without a shred of humanity in their souls,” he added.

The President then called all UN member-states to also fully implement the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Chemical and the Biological Weapons Conventions.

“I have asked the Philippine Senate to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Importantly, we were among those to sign it first,” Duterte said.

In 2017, 122 UN member-states including the Philippines adopted the said treaty.

Currently, there are 45 countries that have reportedly ratified the treaty, five short of the 50 required for the pact to enter into force.

READ: Duterte asks nations to reject war, eliminate nuclear weapons