The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is eyeing to send more troops to conflict areas as part of United Nation's global peacekeeping efforts and to increase representation at the UN headquarters in New York, US.

“We hope to be able to see more Filipinos serving not only in existing and emerging missions but in the United Nations Secretariat as well,” DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo said.

“As we strive to do this, we also need to make sure that we are sending officers and personnel who are not only trained for the job but who are also properly equipped and motivated to carry out their mission,” Romulo said.

Romulo recently visited the Golan Heights, the first to be made by a DFA Secretary. Romulo is also the chairman of the Inter-Agency Council on United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Operations.

Golan Heights is a UN-controlled zone that has kept Israeli and Syrian forces apart since the end of the Arab – Israeli War in 1974. The UNDOF, established on May 31, 1974, maintains the ceasefire and supervises the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces as well as the so-called Areas of Separation and Limitation between the two parties.

The Philippine contingent in Golan Heights is part of the 1,023-strong UNDOF peacekeeping force, including those from Austria, Canada, Croatia, India, and Japan

The Philippines is currently 24th in the UN's list of top troop contributing countries with a total of 1,062 Filipino military and police personnel serving in Afghanistan, Cote d' Ivoire, Darfur, Golan Heights, Haiti, Kashmir, Liberia, Sudan, and Timor-Leste, a 40 percent increase from last year.

Aside from increasing peacekeeping troops and personnel at the UN Secretariat, Romulo said he is also eyeing to put up additional equipment for the Philippines’ peacekeeping operations.