Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:53:00 02/22/2010
Filed Under: Firearms, Mindanao peace process, Conflicts (general)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Former Mayor Adelbert Antonino, a member of the government panel talking peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), believes “carpetbagger profiteers” are out to sabotage the ongoing peace process.
“There are those who sell arms and they make profits out of the war. They don’t like peace, they don’t want this peace process,” Antonino, who, last week resigned as government peace panel member, told the Inquirer.
But Antonino, who was representing the local government units and the business sector in the government peace panel, refused to name names. He said these peace saboteurs are coming from both sides of the fence.
“I prefer to call them carpetbagger profiteers. They are people who sell arms and make profits out of war,” Antonino bared.
Aside from the so-called carpetbaggers, Antonino identified internal problems as another major stumbling block in the peace process.
He said some members of the government panel’s secretariat do not want to lose their jobs.
“The existence of the panel and the secretariat is just temporary. Once a peace agreement is reached, there’s no more peace panel and the secretariat is abolished. Unfortunately, some members wanted the peace process to continue to keep their job,” he said.
Antonino said he had asked the peace panel to look into the internal problems bugging the secretariat but to his dismay, the panel did nothing about it.
“I feel that the panel chair did not need me anymore. If I’m no longer needed, there’s no reason for me to stay. I would just betray the trust and confidence of the sectors I am representing,” he stressed.
Antonino resigned as peace panel member last week.
He revealed that prior to his resignation, some people in the secretariat “wanted to do it their way.”
He claimed he was a team player and that he believed that decisions should be made by the panel, not just by a single person.
Despite some kinks, everything was going on smoothly until the first meeting of the peace panels in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, late last year. Antonino claimed he failed to attend that meeting as he was hospitalized.
He said he had requested for a meeting with the secretariat to keep himself abreast of any development. His request was never granted.
Then he learned that somebody from the secretariat called up a meeting with local government officials in Zamboanga in December without informing him.
Antonino said he called up government peace panel chair Rafael Seguis, but he got the answer “I don’t know.”
Antonino said he was not blaming President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo or criticizing Seguis.
Antonio said he was still confident the government panel can work out a peace accord with the MILF despite the obstacles encountered along the way. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao
Monday, February 22, 2010
Brother of former Ampatuan aide survives slay try
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 09:52:00 02/22/2010
Filed Under: Crime, Election Violence, Maguindanao Massacre
COTABATO CITY, Philippines— (UPDATE) A brother of a policeman-driver of Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. was shot outside his residence in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, on Sunday night, police and the victims relatives said Monday.
Esmael Ebus, 45, survived the attack by a lone assailant, sustaining three superficial gunshot wounds.
The victim, municipal engineer of Ampatuan town, is the older brother of Police Officer 1 Ranier Ebus, who executed an affidavit pointing to his former boss as the one who led local militiamen in the grisly November 23 massacre of 57 people.
Ebus was sitting in front of his home in Poblacion Datu Piang when the gunman arrived and without provocation fired at him, said Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses, acting Maguindanao police director.
“He sustained injuries in his abdomen,” Lineses said.
Ebus’s wife said doctors had declared him out of danger at a local hospital.
Lineses said police could still not say if the attack had anything to do with Ebus’s brother turning state witness.
The attack happened during a power outage in the town at around 7 p.m.
First Posted 09:52:00 02/22/2010
Filed Under: Crime, Election Violence, Maguindanao Massacre
COTABATO CITY, Philippines— (UPDATE) A brother of a policeman-driver of Maguindanao massacre suspect Andal Ampatuan Jr. was shot outside his residence in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, on Sunday night, police and the victims relatives said Monday.
Esmael Ebus, 45, survived the attack by a lone assailant, sustaining three superficial gunshot wounds.
The victim, municipal engineer of Ampatuan town, is the older brother of Police Officer 1 Ranier Ebus, who executed an affidavit pointing to his former boss as the one who led local militiamen in the grisly November 23 massacre of 57 people.
Ebus was sitting in front of his home in Poblacion Datu Piang when the gunman arrived and without provocation fired at him, said Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses, acting Maguindanao police director.
“He sustained injuries in his abdomen,” Lineses said.
Ebus’s wife said doctors had declared him out of danger at a local hospital.
Lineses said police could still not say if the attack had anything to do with Ebus’s brother turning state witness.
The attack happened during a power outage in the town at around 7 p.m.
Armed men rob vice mayor’s house, take hostages
By Edwin Fernandez
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 14:09:00 02/22/2010
Filed Under: Crime, robbery, Kidnapping, Maguindanao Massacre
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — Despite the presence of soldiers and policemen and the existence of a state of emergency, a band of about 20 persons still managed to sneak into this town, robbed the house of the vice mayor of another town, took his wife and son hostage and got away with the crime.
But Superintendent Alex Lineses, acting Maguindanao police director, said the quick response by a police team prevented what could have been a bloody robbery early Saturday.
Lineses on Monday said about 20 gunmen barged into the house of Vice Mayor Hadji Nasser Datumanong of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town at past 12 a.m. Saturday.
“They were apparently looking for firearms (in) the house,” Lineses said.
Using mobile phones, the neighbors alerted the police who quickly responded and arrived at the house of Datumanong.
As the policemen were approaching Datumanong’s house, they were fired upon by the robbers, triggering a brief firefight that left one suspect dead and another wounded, according to Lineses.
“The robbers only managed to bring small items not very valuable to the Datumanongs,” Lineses said.
Lineses admitted that the police could not be at all times in Shariff Aguak.
Datumanong was not in his home when the robbers struck.
As they fled, the robbers grabbed and used Datumanong’s wife and son as human shields against pursuing policemen.
The authorities later found the hostages abandoned in Barangay (village) Labu-labo, also in Shariff Aguak.
Lineses clarified that the Datumanongs have no hidden firearms.
Following the incident, Lineses ordered the assignment of police security escorts to Datumanong’s family in Shariff Aguak.
Maguindanao is still under a state of emergency following the Maguindanao massacre in which 57 people were killed three months ago.
Lineses said that also on Saturday morning, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation from Manila raided the warehouse of former Maguidanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. near Barangay Bagong looking for firearms and ammunition.
He said there was no coordination with his office when the raid was carried out. They went home empty handed, Lineses later learned.
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 14:09:00 02/22/2010
Filed Under: Crime, robbery, Kidnapping, Maguindanao Massacre
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — Despite the presence of soldiers and policemen and the existence of a state of emergency, a band of about 20 persons still managed to sneak into this town, robbed the house of the vice mayor of another town, took his wife and son hostage and got away with the crime.
But Superintendent Alex Lineses, acting Maguindanao police director, said the quick response by a police team prevented what could have been a bloody robbery early Saturday.
Lineses on Monday said about 20 gunmen barged into the house of Vice Mayor Hadji Nasser Datumanong of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town at past 12 a.m. Saturday.
“They were apparently looking for firearms (in) the house,” Lineses said.
Using mobile phones, the neighbors alerted the police who quickly responded and arrived at the house of Datumanong.
As the policemen were approaching Datumanong’s house, they were fired upon by the robbers, triggering a brief firefight that left one suspect dead and another wounded, according to Lineses.
“The robbers only managed to bring small items not very valuable to the Datumanongs,” Lineses said.
Lineses admitted that the police could not be at all times in Shariff Aguak.
Datumanong was not in his home when the robbers struck.
As they fled, the robbers grabbed and used Datumanong’s wife and son as human shields against pursuing policemen.
The authorities later found the hostages abandoned in Barangay (village) Labu-labo, also in Shariff Aguak.
Lineses clarified that the Datumanongs have no hidden firearms.
Following the incident, Lineses ordered the assignment of police security escorts to Datumanong’s family in Shariff Aguak.
Maguindanao is still under a state of emergency following the Maguindanao massacre in which 57 people were killed three months ago.
Lineses said that also on Saturday morning, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation from Manila raided the warehouse of former Maguidanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. near Barangay Bagong looking for firearms and ammunition.
He said there was no coordination with his office when the raid was carried out. They went home empty handed, Lineses later learned.
Two brief comments from our end related to the peace process in Mindanao.
First, we believe this period when parties are exchanging drafts for some kind of agreement on ways forward, is a good opportunity to present suggestions by civil society organisations. We have highlighted this to our fellow ICG colleagues, as well as to the Malaysian facilitator. All of you have worked on consultative processes or other initiatives to come up with an agenda for peace in Mindanao. We encourage you to address the parties directly (for those of you who haven't done so yet) and, in as much as possible, to come up with a consolidated joint proposal.
Second, we have been inquiring with friends from other contexts on additional ways for the participation of civil society in the peace process. We are happy to share with you a suggestion by Christine Bell, a researcher on peace, human rights, and the role of women in peace processes, who was active in the peace process in Northern Ireland. Her thoughts are as follow:
"If there is a chance that the elections stall things (and often people get elected by being ‘anti peace process’ – or the toughest negotiator), then our experience in Northern Ireland was that it was good that there were ‘parallel’ almost ‘official track 2’ fora for discussion and some sense of an ongoing peace process to be kept alive. If there is a strong post-election peace process, then these mechanisms widen participation.
In Northern Ireland we had the Dublin Forum for Peace and Reconciliation which took a large number of submissions and held hearings on matters such as self-determination, human rights, women’s rights etc, at an early stage of the process. Other processes have had ‘peace building commissions’. Some sort of parallel process could also address the ‘internal’ tensions [among parties and stakeholders], and provide some outlet for them. Post agreement we had the ‘civic forum’ which was to perform a similar function. In fact we also had a negotiating forum during the talks that was elected, but that had its own elections which required a much lower threshold for election to the forum meaning that women’s coalition and small loyalist parties were able to get elected to the talks. A forum could also or alternatively be created which enabled internal mind. Dialogue and Philippine-philippine political dialogue on Mind (this is quite ambitious). The general point is that it might be important to have some forum which has a strong public talking role which has some capacity to survive fluctuations in the peace process, in particular due to elections."
Please don't hesitate contacting us for any additional information or comments, or if you want to get in touch with Christine Bell directly.
In peace,
kristian herbolzheimer, cynthia petrigh
conciliation resources
Second, we have been inquiring with friends from other contexts on additional ways for the participation of civil society in the peace process. We are happy to share with you a suggestion by Christine Bell, a researcher on peace, human rights, and the role of women in peace processes, who was active in the peace process in Northern Ireland. Her thoughts are as follow:
"If there is a chance that the elections stall things (and often people get elected by being ‘anti peace process’ – or the toughest negotiator), then our experience in Northern Ireland was that it was good that there were ‘parallel’ almost ‘official track 2’ fora for discussion and some sense of an ongoing peace process to be kept alive. If there is a strong post-election peace process, then these mechanisms widen participation.
In Northern Ireland we had the Dublin Forum for Peace and Reconciliation which took a large number of submissions and held hearings on matters such as self-determination, human rights, women’s rights etc, at an early stage of the process. Other processes have had ‘peace building commissions’. Some sort of parallel process could also address the ‘internal’ tensions [among parties and stakeholders], and provide some outlet for them. Post agreement we had the ‘civic forum’ which was to perform a similar function. In fact we also had a negotiating forum during the talks that was elected, but that had its own elections which required a much lower threshold for election to the forum meaning that women’s coalition and small loyalist parties were able to get elected to the talks. A forum could also or alternatively be created which enabled internal mind. Dialogue and Philippine-philippine political dialogue on Mind (this is quite ambitious). The general point is that it might be important to have some forum which has a strong public talking role which has some capacity to survive fluctuations in the peace process, in particular due to elections."
Please don't hesitate contacting us for any additional information or comments, or if you want to get in touch with Christine Bell directly.
In peace,
kristian herbolzheimer, cynthia petrigh
conciliation resources
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Schedule as settled during the Execom & Expanded COL meetings
March 15, 2010
Deadline for submission by the RMCs of the reviewed MOP for consolidation by the Secretariat and subsequent approval by the Execom
April 5 to 6, 2010
Execom meeting
Venue to be announced
April 23 to 25, 2010
General Assembly/ Leaders Summit
Arrival is on 23 April
Venue to be announced
COL Cluster Caucus
Deferred due to successive schedules
The Vice Chairs for Central/Easter and Western shall be the lead conveners
--------
Operational Planning Schedules by RMC with Derek:
March 1 to 4, 2010
Dabaw & Rajah Buayan
March 9 to 12, 2010
Sibugay
March 16 to 19, 2010
Kutawato & Ranaw
April 1 to 4, 2010
Basilan and Samboangan
April 13 to 16
Sulu
Deadline for submission by the RMCs of the reviewed MOP for consolidation by the Secretariat and subsequent approval by the Execom
April 5 to 6, 2010
Execom meeting
Venue to be announced
April 23 to 25, 2010
General Assembly/ Leaders Summit
Arrival is on 23 April
Venue to be announced
COL Cluster Caucus
Deferred due to successive schedules
The Vice Chairs for Central/Easter and Western shall be the lead conveners
--------
Operational Planning Schedules by RMC with Derek:
March 1 to 4, 2010
Dabaw & Rajah Buayan
March 9 to 12, 2010
Sibugay
March 16 to 19, 2010
Kutawato & Ranaw
April 1 to 4, 2010
Basilan and Samboangan
April 13 to 16
Sulu
Gov’t, MILF reset talks for March
This summary is not available. Please
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RP is model for peacebuilding, Defense Secretary says
by Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews
Sunday, 21 February 2010 17:34
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/20 February-- The Philippines has become the model for peacebuilding efforts in the United Nations and in conflict-affected areas in the world, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales told a peace policy forum at the Ateneo de Davao University on Friday.
Gonzales says he does not know if he should be happy about it but “before Afghanistan and Iraq, it has been started here,” he said, adding the peace policy crafted in these areas were “actually derivatives of lessons learned from Mindanao.”
“The Philippines is the model when it comes to peacebuilding… Go to the United Nations, to areas of conflict. It’s the (Philippine) experience they’re using as guidelines,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales was apparently referring to peacebuilding experiences in Mindanao which are being followed elsewhere, such as the Bishops-Ulama Conference initiative which later inspired the holding of an Asian Bishops-Ulama gathering and recently, an invitation to Pakistan to share their experiences; the initiatives of peace advocacy groups and other sectors, including the military and recently, Mindanao’s state universities.
Gonzles, along with Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) chief Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer and Ariel Hernandez, executive director of Balay Mindanaw Foundation Inc. (BMFI), was a panelist at the February 19 Peace Policy Forum on the theme “Transforming Conflict and Building Peace in Mindanao Towards Security Sector Reform: An Option or a Policy.”
The forum was preceded by the launching of “Soldiers for Peace: A Collection of Peacebuilding Stories in Mindanao” at the Ateneo de Davao University’s Finster Hall.
OP Kors!
Written by Bobby Timonera, one of the editors at MindaNews, and edited by MindaNews columnist Gail Ilagan, the book features 21 stories of soldiers who applied in their areas of operations the lessons learned in Operation Peace Course (OP Kors!) as well as documented personal stories of transformation of soldiers from warriors to peace-builders and conflict managers.
OP Kors!, a series of trainings on peacebuilding, was initiated by then BMFI Executive Director Hernandez (on leave while he sits as AnakMindanao’s second representative to Congress) and Ferrer, who were classmates at the Asian Institute of Management’s Bridging Leadership Program.
OP Kors! is part of the peace education component of the Peace Building Program of BMFI.
Although the peacebuilding initiatives have not reached a critical mass in the Armed Forces, it has been gaining headway among key officials and frontline soldiers in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
Ferrer said the book has been their dream since 2007. “We wanted to capture the stories of the soldiers at the frontlines of building the peace,” he said.
Soldier for peace
“As we now move towards post-conlict, we want to equip our soldiers and officers on how to rebuild the social damage of the prolonged conflict,” he added.
He noted that in the protracted struggle of the New People’s Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), “it could not be avoided that aside from the physical damage, (the conflicts) damaged our social cohesion as a people.”
“It is about time we equip our soldiers new tools, new knowledge to be responsible fighters – respecting human rights, becoming effective peace builders,” Ferrer, also referred to as “peacebuilding general,” said.
Roda Mangayayam of Baguio City, a 2nd Lieutenant who is a member of the Philippine Military Academy’s (PMA) Class 2007, gave a testimony of how it is to be a “soldier for peace.”
Mangayayam said they were “trained for combat” and “never have we dealt about peace. Never had we had that in our curriculum.”
She said she is very happy that a book has been published about their efforts and hopes that the other soldiers will be infected with the “virus of peacebuilding.”
Mangayayam said she prefers to say “we are soldiers for peace, not for war.”
Winning the peace
She urged the public to read the collection of stories “to know a bit of what is happening around us” and “beyond that, what is the meaning of what we are doing.”
“This is what we are doing join us, join us,” she said, adding, “I want you to be inspired as I am.”
On August 20 last year, commandants of the military training institutions joined staff officers of the AFP and the Philippine Army and representatives of various divisions of EastMinCom at a Peace Policy workshop in Davao City.
There, participants were introduced to the initiatives taken by Mindanao units to actively build peace in their respective areas of responsibility. Col. Ernesto R. Aradanas, commander of the 603 Infantry Brigade based in Camp Iranun (the former Camp Abubakar of the MILF), shared his publication project that details how his brigade undertakes an integrated program for peace building.
According to the book, “Soldiers for Peace,” the Camp Iranun model “demonstrates that peace building does not require retooling of official functions or the conscription of specialized equipment. It merely involves a change of attitude in the way soldiers do their regular jobs to be more open to listen to the people and help them establish conditions for peace in their communities.”
When Maj. Gen. Carlos B. Holganza assumed command of the largest combat division of the Philippine Army – the 10th Infantry Division -- on November 16, 2009, he said, “Our soldiers realize now that winning the peace is what counts most, not just winning the war. They know that they are not just supposed to be warriors, but noble warriors who will know not just how to fight, but when and whom and why we must fight.”
Peacebuilding general
At the end of the forum, a draft policy paper was presented to Gonzales, on the institutionalization of peace education in the AFP training and to include peacebuilding in the AFP merit system.
Gonzales said he would read the proposal but added, “rest assured that any effort on peacebuilding, the Department of National Defense will always be behiWehat can we do?
Ferrer said the Armed Forces has, for the last 40 years of the insurgencies in the country, “been applying military force but nothing has changed.”
Ferrer attended a peace course in the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute, the first soldier to ever attend that course and has since been sending his officials to attend the summer course.
His efforts in Basilan and later at the 1st Infantry Division in Zamboanga, have earned for him the titled “peacebuilding general.” As such, he vows to continue his work beyond retirement.
He said he could be part of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) “to promote peace in our country.”
Ferrer is up for retirement on January 23, 2012.
Ferrer also there is a role for peacebuilding soldiers even if Mindanao does achieve peace: as peacekeeping forces here in the Philippines or be part of the United Nations’ peacekeeping forces.
Transforming Energy
Professor Rudy Rodil, former vice chair of the government peace panel negotiating with the MILF until August 2008, said “we have not broken away from the cycle of violence.”
Rodil noted that “energy cannot be destroyed (but) energy can be transformed.”
The negative energies created by the protracted conflicts, he said, have become bigger and bigger “so how do you now transform that rather than (perpetuate) the cycle of violence?”
He said the cycle of violence caused by colonization created a major problem whose historical roots are so deep.
He said the reaction of the majority of the Filipinos to the already initialed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancesral Domain (MOA-AD) of the government and MILF peace panels, was “not new.”
“It is not the Constitution, not the SPCPD (Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development), not the MOA-AD – many of whom reacted even before reading it – that is the problem,” said Rodil.
“We are dealing here with a body of emotional energy that is (released when) triggered by certain events,” he said.
He said all sectors must be involved to help transform the conflict. “Ibalik ang kapatiran” (Let’s go back to brotherhood/sisterhood).
Aside from Rodil, the other reactors were Irene Santiago, executive director of the Mindanao Commission on Women who was a member of the government peace panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front from 2001 to 2003; and Prof. Saturnina Rodil of the Mindanao State University, who handles “inner peace” sessions of OP Kors; Mindanao Business Council chair Vicente Lao; 6th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Anthony Alcantara and 10th ID Deputy Division Commander Brig. Gen. Romeo Fajardo.
The forum, anchored by Tina Monzon-Palma of ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) will be aired next month. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)
Sunday, 21 February 2010 17:34
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/20 February-- The Philippines has become the model for peacebuilding efforts in the United Nations and in conflict-affected areas in the world, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales told a peace policy forum at the Ateneo de Davao University on Friday.
Gonzales says he does not know if he should be happy about it but “before Afghanistan and Iraq, it has been started here,” he said, adding the peace policy crafted in these areas were “actually derivatives of lessons learned from Mindanao.”
“The Philippines is the model when it comes to peacebuilding… Go to the United Nations, to areas of conflict. It’s the (Philippine) experience they’re using as guidelines,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales was apparently referring to peacebuilding experiences in Mindanao which are being followed elsewhere, such as the Bishops-Ulama Conference initiative which later inspired the holding of an Asian Bishops-Ulama gathering and recently, an invitation to Pakistan to share their experiences; the initiatives of peace advocacy groups and other sectors, including the military and recently, Mindanao’s state universities.
Gonzles, along with Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) chief Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer and Ariel Hernandez, executive director of Balay Mindanaw Foundation Inc. (BMFI), was a panelist at the February 19 Peace Policy Forum on the theme “Transforming Conflict and Building Peace in Mindanao Towards Security Sector Reform: An Option or a Policy.”
The forum was preceded by the launching of “Soldiers for Peace: A Collection of Peacebuilding Stories in Mindanao” at the Ateneo de Davao University’s Finster Hall.
OP Kors!
Written by Bobby Timonera, one of the editors at MindaNews, and edited by MindaNews columnist Gail Ilagan, the book features 21 stories of soldiers who applied in their areas of operations the lessons learned in Operation Peace Course (OP Kors!) as well as documented personal stories of transformation of soldiers from warriors to peace-builders and conflict managers.
OP Kors!, a series of trainings on peacebuilding, was initiated by then BMFI Executive Director Hernandez (on leave while he sits as AnakMindanao’s second representative to Congress) and Ferrer, who were classmates at the Asian Institute of Management’s Bridging Leadership Program.
OP Kors! is part of the peace education component of the Peace Building Program of BMFI.
Although the peacebuilding initiatives have not reached a critical mass in the Armed Forces, it has been gaining headway among key officials and frontline soldiers in conflict-affected areas in Mindanao.
Ferrer said the book has been their dream since 2007. “We wanted to capture the stories of the soldiers at the frontlines of building the peace,” he said.
Soldier for peace
“As we now move towards post-conlict, we want to equip our soldiers and officers on how to rebuild the social damage of the prolonged conflict,” he added.
He noted that in the protracted struggle of the New People’s Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), “it could not be avoided that aside from the physical damage, (the conflicts) damaged our social cohesion as a people.”
“It is about time we equip our soldiers new tools, new knowledge to be responsible fighters – respecting human rights, becoming effective peace builders,” Ferrer, also referred to as “peacebuilding general,” said.
Roda Mangayayam of Baguio City, a 2nd Lieutenant who is a member of the Philippine Military Academy’s (PMA) Class 2007, gave a testimony of how it is to be a “soldier for peace.”
Mangayayam said they were “trained for combat” and “never have we dealt about peace. Never had we had that in our curriculum.”
She said she is very happy that a book has been published about their efforts and hopes that the other soldiers will be infected with the “virus of peacebuilding.”
Mangayayam said she prefers to say “we are soldiers for peace, not for war.”
Winning the peace
She urged the public to read the collection of stories “to know a bit of what is happening around us” and “beyond that, what is the meaning of what we are doing.”
“This is what we are doing join us, join us,” she said, adding, “I want you to be inspired as I am.”
On August 20 last year, commandants of the military training institutions joined staff officers of the AFP and the Philippine Army and representatives of various divisions of EastMinCom at a Peace Policy workshop in Davao City.
There, participants were introduced to the initiatives taken by Mindanao units to actively build peace in their respective areas of responsibility. Col. Ernesto R. Aradanas, commander of the 603 Infantry Brigade based in Camp Iranun (the former Camp Abubakar of the MILF), shared his publication project that details how his brigade undertakes an integrated program for peace building.
According to the book, “Soldiers for Peace,” the Camp Iranun model “demonstrates that peace building does not require retooling of official functions or the conscription of specialized equipment. It merely involves a change of attitude in the way soldiers do their regular jobs to be more open to listen to the people and help them establish conditions for peace in their communities.”
When Maj. Gen. Carlos B. Holganza assumed command of the largest combat division of the Philippine Army – the 10th Infantry Division -- on November 16, 2009, he said, “Our soldiers realize now that winning the peace is what counts most, not just winning the war. They know that they are not just supposed to be warriors, but noble warriors who will know not just how to fight, but when and whom and why we must fight.”
Peacebuilding general
At the end of the forum, a draft policy paper was presented to Gonzales, on the institutionalization of peace education in the AFP training and to include peacebuilding in the AFP merit system.
Gonzales said he would read the proposal but added, “rest assured that any effort on peacebuilding, the Department of National Defense will always be behiWehat can we do?
Ferrer said the Armed Forces has, for the last 40 years of the insurgencies in the country, “been applying military force but nothing has changed.”
Ferrer attended a peace course in the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute, the first soldier to ever attend that course and has since been sending his officials to attend the summer course.
His efforts in Basilan and later at the 1st Infantry Division in Zamboanga, have earned for him the titled “peacebuilding general.” As such, he vows to continue his work beyond retirement.
He said he could be part of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) “to promote peace in our country.”
Ferrer is up for retirement on January 23, 2012.
Ferrer also there is a role for peacebuilding soldiers even if Mindanao does achieve peace: as peacekeeping forces here in the Philippines or be part of the United Nations’ peacekeeping forces.
Transforming Energy
Professor Rudy Rodil, former vice chair of the government peace panel negotiating with the MILF until August 2008, said “we have not broken away from the cycle of violence.”
Rodil noted that “energy cannot be destroyed (but) energy can be transformed.”
The negative energies created by the protracted conflicts, he said, have become bigger and bigger “so how do you now transform that rather than (perpetuate) the cycle of violence?”
He said the cycle of violence caused by colonization created a major problem whose historical roots are so deep.
He said the reaction of the majority of the Filipinos to the already initialed Memorandum of Agreement on Ancesral Domain (MOA-AD) of the government and MILF peace panels, was “not new.”
“It is not the Constitution, not the SPCPD (Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development), not the MOA-AD – many of whom reacted even before reading it – that is the problem,” said Rodil.
“We are dealing here with a body of emotional energy that is (released when) triggered by certain events,” he said.
He said all sectors must be involved to help transform the conflict. “Ibalik ang kapatiran” (Let’s go back to brotherhood/sisterhood).
Aside from Rodil, the other reactors were Irene Santiago, executive director of the Mindanao Commission on Women who was a member of the government peace panel negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front from 2001 to 2003; and Prof. Saturnina Rodil of the Mindanao State University, who handles “inner peace” sessions of OP Kors; Mindanao Business Council chair Vicente Lao; 6th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Anthony Alcantara and 10th ID Deputy Division Commander Brig. Gen. Romeo Fajardo.
The forum, anchored by Tina Monzon-Palma of ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) will be aired next month. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)
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