“The Spirit of the Creator was there!” That was the constant existential feeling I had while participating at the Talaandig Day Celebration. It was held last 14 October 2022 in their ancestral territory at the foot of Mt. Kitanglad. That day of festivities was actually the final event of a whole week of rituals and celebrations. It was indeed a day when, from the perspective of our team at PBCI and CFP, we participated in activities that harmonizes us with the Creator, with our being, with others, and with the creation. Our team also accompanied the traditional leaders of the Bagobo Tagabawa Tribe to meet the traditional leaders of the Talaandig Tribe, praying and hoping that the two Indigenous communities become partners in inclusive development.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/10/the-spirit-of-magbabaya-was-there-during-the-talaandig-day-festivities/
Through the invitation of their leaders, we went to the Matigsalug Ancestral Domain to listen. Listening for us is the first act of love. We listen first to the Matigsalug Indigenous People and their traditional leaders’ worldview, value system, and behavior patterns. As a team of inclusive development workers and social entrepreneurial mentors, we are listening through the “headphones” of our understanding of Peace and Reconciliation (PAR), of Indigenous Knowledge System and Practices (IKSP), of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), and of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). We hope to help amplify the voices of the Matigsalug people as they continue to allow us to journey with them towards the full enjoyment of their Right to Self-Determination and their right to protect, reclaim, and regenerate their Ancestral Domain.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/10/field-ops-team-explores-relationship-with-a-matigsalog-indigenous-community/
Last 20-26 September 2022, Doug Klassen (Executive Director, Mennonite Church Canada), Jeanette Hanson (Director, Mennonite Church Canada Witness), and Norm Dyck (Mission Minister, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada) accompanied the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. and Coffee for Peace (PBCI-CFP IncluDevTeam) in our regularly scheduled field work. Our field trip included a meeting with a Philippine Army officer, with the Council of Elders of the Manobo Apao Descendants Ancestral Domain of Mount Apo (MADADMA), with the Obo Manobo coffee farmers in Kidapawan, with the founders of TriPeople Development & Services Foundation, and with the Council of Elders of the Unified Bagobo Tagabawa Tribe. They also met with our Manila-based BOT members.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/09/pbci-cfp-field-partners-invite-visiting-canadian-mennonite-leaders/
The Obo Manobo Coffee Farmers sent their representatives at the Philippine Coffee Expo 2022 (PCE2022) to present their initial product. Datu Romeo Andot, Bai Gemma Andot, and Alvin Baroro were sent by the Manobo Apao Descendants Ancestral Domain of Mount Apo (MADADMA). They were accompanied by Rich Paul Calceta and Don Tormis of the Corporate Social Responsibility Department of Energy Development Corporation (CSR-EDC). Sihaya Ansibod, PBCI Field Operations Director assisted them. The Obo Manobo Coffee presented in this event was the product of a long-term program to develop key farmers who would be the local champions we refer to as ‘farmer entrepreneurs’ or farmerpreneurs. This is part of an on-going inclusive development initiative of MADADMA. We, at PBCI-CFP IncluDev Team, has been tasked to facilitate social preparation, community organization, and training in basic entrepreneurial skills.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/09/obo-manobo-farmers-present-sample-product-at-the-philippine-coffee-expo-2022/
We learned that the new Division Commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the highest military officer in the whole Greater Davao Region, is willing to have a dialogue with peacebuilding civil society organizational leaders. We, at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP) immediately prayed for, and planned, a course of action to pay him a courtesy call. We also invited our civil society partners – Mindanao PeaceWeavers, Initiatives for International Dialogue, All-Out Peace Network, and Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict – to join us. Last 29 August 2022, MajGen Nolasco A. Mempin, along with his staff and ground commanders under him, received our group into the headquarters of the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/08/peace-network-engages-government-military-in-a-peace-dialogue/
26 – 27 Aug 2022. The Talaandig Indigenous People’s community in Sungko, Lantapan, Bukidnon, finished the first of two social entrepreneurship workshops which was jointly facilitated by Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), led by Dr. Jinky Bornales, and the Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. and Coffee for Peace (PBCI-CFP IncluDev Team). With the cultural guidance and leadership of Datu Migketay “Vic” Saway, the seminar-workshop focused on generating Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) that can be used in their social enterprise ventures. The participants also identified the products that they want to develop as social enterprises.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/08/talaandig-community-finishes-first-workshop-on-social-entrepreneurship/
Indonesia 2022 gathering was my sixth year and my last event serving as chair of the Peace Commission of the Mennonite World Conference (MWC). I feel the joy of watching our team working together to see MWC embrace the Statement on Solidarity with the Indigenous People. For me, this is the most exciting part of the last 6 years serving with the Peace Commission. I have been blessed working with the women and men whom I learned to respect and love. I pray that MWC would continue to serve the Body of Christ; to serve the nations towards justice and peace; and, to serve as a healing body in the process of decolonization and reconciliation in this world.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/07/2022-mwc-global-assembly-in-indonesia-a-personal-reflection/
28-30 June 2022. The Inclusive Development Team of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. and Coffee for Peace (PBCI-CFP IncluDev Team) conducted a series of small group consultations and workshop-seminars with our partners from the Ovu Menovu Indigenous People’s community and from the Corporate Social Responsibility Department of the Energy Development Corporation (CSR-EDC). These field activities are a part of a five-year Social Entrepreneurial Training Program among pre-qualified Ovu Menovu farmers.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/06/our-partnership-with-the-ovu-menovu-farmers-and-with-the-csr-edc-deepens-in-rootedness/
Last 07-09 June 2022, Lakan Sumulong participated in a regional dialogue of civil society organization (CSO) leaders on the Bangsamoro Peace Process. It was organized by the Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus, led by Atty. Mary Ann Arnado. The objectives were: (a) to enable Mindanao CSOs to reflect on the new political realities and challenges facing the extended transition period in the BARMM as national government transitions from the Duterte to Marcos presidency; and, (b) to prepare at the earliest possible time to effectively address emerging issues with the end in view of sustaining and protecting the gains of the peace process.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/06/pbci-participates-in-the-2022-regional-dialogue-on-the-bangsamoro-peace-process/
Last 6th of May 2022, the Green Habits Agri-Trading (GHAT) made a partnership agreement with Kapeyapaan Farmers Association (KFA). They were accompanied by the IncluDev Team of the PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and of Coffee For Peace (CFP). The signing of agreement was held in Malipayon Peace Hub, the post-harvest facility of CFP in Barangay Managa, Bansalan, Davao del Sur. They both aim to become an outstanding social enterprise in Barangay Alegre and even in the Greater Davao Area.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/05/green-habits-and-kfa-alegre-form-a-social-enterprise-alliance/
As a Filipino citizen, I have been lamenting because of the unfortunate result of the candidacy of Leni Robredo, Kiko Pangilinan, and their senatorial team. As I lament, I’m reflecting on the seeming triumph of untruth and injustice. In the next six years, we will go through another socio-political darkness akin to the Marcos Martial Law and the Duterte War on Drugs. But hope, faith, and love allow me to see our short-term loss and our long-term victory as advocates of justice, peace, and reconciliation. I’m disappointed with the popular votes, but I see opportunities for a protracted, nonviolent, radical transformation of our land and our people.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/05/moving-on-after-the-2022-philippine-elections-a-personal-lamentation-and-reflection/
Last 25-28 April, leaders of a Zambales-based Fresh Hope Agape Center (FHAC) Inc. visited PeaceBuilders Community Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee For Peace (CFP) in Davao. The purpose of their visit was to get actual coffee farm exposure, to get post-harvest processing experience, and to go through Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) seminar. FHAC provides education and livelihood support to marginalized communities in Zambales. Their work is especially focused on Aeta Indigenous People’s community in Zambales.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2022/04/friends-working-among-zambales-aetas-establish-partnership-with-pbci-cfp-team/
