Civil society, gov’t link to mobilize public support on peace process

Manila, Jan. 28 – In light of the upcoming peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) next month, civil society and government organizations have been undertaking collaborative efforts to mobilize public support on the peace process.

In a project working paper on peace constituency building, Prof. Jennifer Santiago Oreta of the Ateneo de Manila University – Department of Political Science said that the resumption of the talks is “a golden opportunity to finally put an end to the violent conflicts that have ‘hostaged’ the country’s development for so long”

“It is within this frame that a peace constituency building project is envisioned,” she stated.

Oreta, who is the lead convener of Ateneo’s Working Group on Security Sector Reform and one of the project organizers, stressed that this convergent initiative of the government and civil society sector aims to engage the people to act and commit themselves for peace through various modes of participation; and make known to the wider public that there is a broad constituency supporting the peace agenda.

“These positive interventions will not only mainstream the peace agenda as a national concern; it can also add pressure to the peace panels on both sides (the government and the MILF and the CPP/NPA/NDF) to sit down and put an end to the decades-long issue that has imperiled the country for so long,” she said.

Oreta related that several activities have been lined up to encourage participation of stakeholders.

These include reading of pastoral message on Feb. 6 in Catholic churches calling on the faithful to support the peace agenda; “Bells for Peace/Prayer for Peace,” a nationwide synchronized ringing of church bells at exactly 1:00 p.m. on Feb. 6; “Light Up for Peace,” a candle lighting activity on Feb. 8 to symbolically show the public’s support for peace; “Signature Campaign on Peace Wall” on Feb. 14; and “Peace Walk/Rally” that will coincide with the EDSA revolution anniversary on Feb. 25, among others.

Non-government organizations involved in the peace constituency building project are the Philippine Coalition on International Criminal Court (PCICC), Sulong CARHRIHL, Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute (GZOPI), Institute for International Dialogue (IID), Libertas, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Confederation of Student Governments of the Philippines, People Power Volunteers for Reform, among others.

Participating government agencies include the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and Government of the Philippines-Monitoring Committee on the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).(OPPAP Media Bureau)