The Philippines is pressing the United Nations (UN) to reform the structure of the powerful Security Council and expand its membership as part of an amendment to the UN Charter.

During the joint debate of the 64th Session of the General Assembly on Agenda Item 9 on the report of the Security Council and on Agenda Item 119 on Security Council reforms, Ambassador Hilario G. Davide Jr., Philippine permanent representative to the UN, called on the UN member-states to make dynamic and bold moves to pursue the mandate of General Assembly Decision 62/557 to commence intergovernmental negotiations.

“What is needed now is action. Action. Action. There should be no turning back,” he said.

“After two decades of embarrassing sojourn within the confines of the Open-Ended Working Group and repeating the same old arguments day-in and day-out out, the gates are now open for negotiations that will hopefully bring harvest of agreements on Security Council reform,” Davide said.

Among the reform proposals pushed by the Philippines in the Security Council are the amendment of the UN Charter and expansion of the membership of the Security Council from the present 15 member-states to 31.

The Philippines also called for mechanisms that would not only curtail the use of the veto power but also allow member states to overturn or override a veto by any of the council’s five permanent members, Russia, the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom.

Davide noted the difficulty of cutting the umbilical cord of the Open-Ended Working Group, created by the General Assembly to discuss Security Council reforms, as paragraph 17 (c) of its report still states that the General Assembly can convene it if member-states so decide.

“The Philippines hopes that the General Assembly should not so decide; otherwise it will sadly be brought back to where it started,” he said. “With vim, vigor and vitality and with political will, the General Assembly must concentrate on intergovernmental negotiations.”

He said when the member-states began inter-governmental negotiations, they have, for all intents and purposes, put an end to the Open-Ended Working Group.

“The general membership now has no other choice, but to go forward and, with good and abiding good faith, work on Security Council reform,” Davide said.