Category: SOCIO-POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

Stories and ideas about being in harmony and at peace with Others.

STRENGTHENING OUR RELATIONSHIPS IN THE CORDILLERAS

  On Monday the 16th, after attending the spectacular Awong Chi Gangsa ceremony, we enjoyed an afternoon of good fellowship at the Grand Zion Hotel. Darnell, Regina and Bryan from PeaceChurch; Twinkle’s mother, grandmother, and cousins; and Kuya Dann talked of all their dreams and plans for PeaceChurch in Manila, and for Twinkle’s PAR network …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/strengthening-our-relationship-in-the-cordilleras/

A LECTURE IN KALINGA HISTORY

  In Tabuk City, on Saturday the 14th, we met with the farmers of Asimbanglan. Hart and Ginny Wiens hosted the meeting, and they helped us to explain to the farmers that it had never been our intention to mislead them or to leave them hanging. Kuya Dann gave the farmers a rundown of the many …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/cordillera-listening-tour-part-4-feb-14-15/

CORDILLERAN LEADERS SHARE THEIR STORIES WITH PBCI

  In the mid-morning of Saturday, February 7th, I and PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) CEO Rev. Dann Pantoja (Kuya Dann to me) boarded a bus in Manila bound for Baguio City. It was the start of PeaceBuilders’ February 2015 Listening Tour in the Cordillera Region, with objectives which I have previously detailed. We spent the night of the 7th at the Baguio Village …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/cordillera-listening-tour-part-1-feb-7-9/

LISTENING TO THE TINGGUIANS OF ABRA

  Since the 8th of this month, PeaceBuilders CEO Rev. Daniel Pantoja and I have been traveling around the Cordillera region of northern Luzon under the guidance of PeaceBuilders’ own native Cordilleran missionary Twinkle Alngag Bautista. One major objective of our sojourn in the North is to listen and take note of the concerns and aspirations of Cordillerans — particularly those who …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/listening-to-the-tingyens-of-abra/

PBCI MOURNS FOR THOSE KILLED IN MAMASAPANO CLASH

We at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) extend our deepest sympathies to the families of the 44 men of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force, and also to the families of the 16 members of the Moro community, who lost their lives in Mamasapano, Maguindano during a tragic clash in the pre-dawn hours of 25 January 2015. As …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/pbci-mourns-for-the-mamasapano-victims/

VOICES FROM THE DULANGAN MANOBO FILE

Among the stacks of case files in the archives of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) is a fat plastic folder labeled “Dulangan Manobo Farmers,” and stuffed with dozens of documents given to PBCI over the years by the leaders and representatives of the Dulangan Manobo tribe of Sultan Kudarat Province, Mindanao. Some of the documents are …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/voices-from-the-dulangan-manobo-file/

A DIFFERENCE OF PERSPECTIVE: NATURAL DISASTERS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

  Recently, I have been tasked with researching the history of the CPP-NPA, or the Communist Party of the Philippines and its New People’s Army. Under the banner of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, there has been a communist presence in the Philippines for over 40 years now, and they have been waging …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/a-difference-of-perspectiv-natural-disasters-and-social-justice/

OUR PEACEBUILDING PLANS FOR THE NEW YEAR

  As the PeaceBuilders team embarks upon another year of ministry, many projects and needs call for our attentions. In order to practice good stewardship of the talents and resources that God has entrusted to us, it is necessary for us prayerfully to evaluate which of all these potential projects requires urgent and immediate action. We must also endeavor to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/our-peacebuilding-plans-for-the-new-year/

UBJP IS A POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MINDANAO PEACE PROCESS

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has organized the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP). Its First Volunteers’ General Assembly was held last 23-25 December 2014 in Camp Darapanan, Barangay Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao. From being a revolutionary front, the MILF is transitioning to become a political party. In his opening remarks, Hon. Sammy Al-Mansour, UBJP …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/ubjp-is-a-positive-development-in-the-mindanao-peace-process/

FIELD TEAM RELIEVES BARANGAY SIHA; PBCI THANKS DONORS

The local volunteers belonging to the newly-trained and newly-organized Disaster Response Networks (DRNs) have finally managed to deliver relief goods to 278 families in hard-to-reach Barangay Siha, in the Municipality of Borongan, Eastern Samar. In order to transport their cargo of rice-cooking kettles and foodstuffs to the remote barangay, the team risked their lives by fording the Lo-om river, which was swollen by heavy …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/field-team-relieves-barangay-siha-pbci-thanks-donors/

NANAY LITA AND MANY MORE HAGUPIT SURVIVORS NEED YOUR HELP

Nanay Lita lives in Barangay Siha, Municipality of Borongan, Eastern Samar. As Typhoon Ruby was raging, and her home was beginning to flood, she placed her 2-month-old baby inside a washing machine, hoping the washer would serve as a makeshift boat. Thankfully, she and her baby survived. But their house and coconut/rice farm (their main source of livelihood) was in a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/nanay-lita-and-many-more-hagupit-survivors-need-your-help/

IN WAKE OF HAGUPIT MANY FAMILIES LACK FOOD, WATER

As a result of Typhoon Hagupit’s destruction of homes and infrastructure in the Visayan Islands, many families are currently in dire need of immediate relief. Three of PeaceBuilders’ senior staff — Joji Felicitas Bautista Pantoja (Admin/Finance), Kriz Cruzado (FieldOps), and Bennette Grace Tenecio Mañulit (SupportOps) — are currently assessing the damage and coordinating relief efforts including nutritional …

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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/in-wake-of-hagupit-many-families-lack-food-water/

OUR GLOBAL PEACE COMMUNITY

We are sent by Mennonite Church Canada Witness in partnership with our international community.