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N. Tan: The Philippines Peace Process
Written by Nabil Tan, Undersecretary, Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Philippines
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
We are pleased that the Universal Peace Federation is raising public awareness of the need to promote innovative leadership and governance that are responsive to the pressing and complex concerns of our time.
Your organization has gone to great lengths this year in organizing conferences and assemblies in certain localities in the Philippines to intensify people’s awareness of the promotion of peace. We take note of the leaders’ conferences that were held in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Antipolo, Rizal, and Baguio City to promote the value of partnerships among governments, faith-based organizations, and NGOs, fostering the culture of love as a way toward peace and development.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, which is the lead agency tasked to work for a just and lasting peace for all Filipinos, considers these efforts positive because they help drum up people’s awareness of building a climate conducive to peace. The holding of a leaders’ conference like this contributes to the government’s efforts to build peace and make it a reality.
In the last 20 years, various administrations have sought to address the issues of internal armed conflict by issuing policies that provide for an environment to build a culture of peace.
In February 2001, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued EP No. 3, which reaffirmed the government’s resolve to pursue the multi-track peace process after the all-out war in Mindanao in 2000. The government’s comprehensive peace process is being pursued through the so-called “Six Paths to Peace.” These are:
- Pursuit of social, economic, and political reforms;
- Consensus-building and empowerment for peace;
- Peaceful negotiated settlement with the different rebel groups;
- Programs for reconciliation, reintegration into mainstream society, and rehabilitation;
- Addressing concerns arising from continuing armed hostilities; and
- Building and nurturing a climate conducive to peace.
This commitment is also translated as Agenda No. 9 in the President’s Ten-Point Legacy Agenda which, in turn, is fleshed out into a National Peace Plan comprising Chapter 14 of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (2004 - 2010). The Peace Plan articulates the following five goals of the peace process:
- Completion of comprehensive peace agreements with rebel groups, resulting in the permanent cessation of armed hostilities by 2010;
- Completion of implementation of all final peace agreements signed since 1986;
- Mainstreaming the rebel groups through an enhanced amnesty, reintegration, and reconciliation program;
- Rehabilitation, development, and healing of conflict-affected areas; and
- Strengthening the peace constituency and citizen participation in the peace process on the ground.
The goals as well as components of the peace process are closely intertwined; not one goal or component stands alone. Similar to the symbiotic relationship of peace and development, the efforts undertaken by the administration are geared towards attaining peace and mitigating poverty — addressing the roots of the internal armed conflicts of the country.
As we all know, there can never be sustainable development without peace and stability, and neither can there be genuine peace unless the roots of the internal, armed conflict — injustice, poor governance, and lack of social services — are adequately addressed. Thus, the need to build a constituency for peace is a must. To attain peace, the cooperation and involvement of all stakeholders must be harnessed and strengthened.
In becoming peacebuilders, there is a need to shift perspective, traversing the terrain of consensus-building, and priming the ground for tolerance and understanding. All of us must participate in this noble effort. From whatever origin, calling, or social station, we are all peacemakers. We bear the responsibility to practice and promote the values of peace — respect for human dignity, justice, equity, freedom, social responsibility, tolerance, and solidarity. These are the values that make a peaceful and vibrant community. The transformation, after all, begins with the education, enculturation, and internalization of the attitudes and beliefs that give us lasting peace of mind and spirit.
On this note, I reiterate the importance of this leadership training, your commitment and capacity to meet the common challenges we face, and your resolve to stand by the dream of peace, not only in our country but among all mankind.