SENATOR TJ WANTS MEDIA NOT TO STOP

By PJTremedal,BNDMisOCC/CIB-OCM

Davao City – In the 6^th Mindanao Media Summit held at the Garden oases Hotel and Convention Center in this city November 5-7, 2010, at least 100 media participants from Regions CARAGA, WESTERN MINDANAO, DAVAO REGION and CENTRAL-ARMM REGION gathered to discuss and listen with the GRP-MILF Panels Representatives, the Asia Foundation, IDD-Mindanao Peace Weavers, and VERA Files for a possible solution that the media can be of support to achieve peace and development.

For decades now, with the still going Mindanao Conflict, Mindanawans suffered a lot. Women, Children, the elderly suffered most and asking when will this end?

The 6^th Mindanao Media Summit initiated by the Mindanao media Forum for the past five years whishes to impart to the public its role through media ethical standards practices by media practitioners’ their commitment as watchdog and advocates for peace.

This Senator TJ Guingona who came to be the special guest put into a challenge media practitioners’ not to stop in their work to achieve elusive peace. Senator Guingona made emphasis what the role has media will tackle and support the government actions to end the conflict and move forward.

With this year’s theme: “Mindanao 2020: Moving Forward”, the senator strongly believes that media can help change the faces of Mindanao into a peaceful, beautiful and developed island of the Philippines.

One Mindanao, One People, One Nation.

Along with this is the full text of the senator’s message and challenge not only to the Mindanao Media but to the Mindanaoan’s as well;

First, allow me to thank the organizers of this forum for inviting me to deliver a message for Mindanao on this special occasion. It is a singular honor for a senator but even more so for a Mindanawon. Allow me also to thank all of you for participating in this forum, both in the substantive work and in the pleasant fellowships. Even as we prepare to move forward on the peace process and the development plans for Mindanao, it is necessary to take the time to store up our good will and nourish our friendships as these often act as an effective binding agent during times when our respective positions would tend to pull us apart. Finally, allow me to thank the people of Mindanao for their abiding faith in the future of the island and for their unwavering trust that peace and development will be achieved in Mindanao. Their commitment gives strength to our resolve to make the peace process succeed.

You are all experts in your respective fields. And I will not presume to tell you what to do or how to do it. To all of you here in this forum committed to moving forward, my special message is just this: Don't stop. We all want peace and development for Mindanao. Many of us have worked long and hard for them. We have made progress. And if we have not yet achieved the peace and development in Mindanao that we want, it is only because, at some point, we stopped moving forward. Our efforts for peace and development are like breathing. The moment we stop, we lose whatever we have achieved and more. In 2020, we may wish to evaluate the progress that we have made towards achieving certain targets for the peace process and development. As a result of that, we may wish to modify our plans and redirect our efforts. But, we should not stop moving forward. We should never stop moving forward.

Lest I forget that this is the Mindanao Media Summit, I have a message for my friends in the media as well. It is said that life is made up of stories, not facts. I ask you then to tell stories of peace in Mindanao. By this I do not mean that you should remain silent about the poverty and violence that beset the island but rather that you should speak forcefully as well about the efforts to bring peace and development in Mindanao. The stories we tell are rooted in who we are. Men of peace will tell stories of peace.

My final message is for the people of Mindanao: I am one of you. And because I am a Mindanawon, I will not stop in my efforts to help bring peace and development to Mindanao. I will use my position as Chair of the Senate Committee on Peace, Unity, and Reconciliation to ensure that efforts for peace and development in Mindanao will have the full attention, if not the support, of Congress. I will work during budget deliberations to ensure that Mindanao will receive its fair share of the national budget in terms of better health care and education, sufficient food and energy, improved infrastructure, security, and disaster preparedness. I will ensure that this government understands that peace and development in Mindanao is key to peace and development in the Philippines and not a mere local issue on some isolated island only remotely connected to the rest of the country.

Peace is a gift that is given to those who do good and live right. Your work during this forum leads me to believe that peace in Mindanao is more achievable now than it has ever been. Because I see peace in the hearts of those of you who are here today, I can better see the possibility of peace for the people of Mindanao in the near future.

Thank you. May God bless us all.

Senator Guingona after delivering his message for Mindanao, he answers question from the eager media participants to know more what the Mindanao Senator had done in the senate.