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PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) is proud to announce the election of Emil Jonathan Soriano as Chairman of its Board of Trustees. His appointment marks a pivotal moment in the organization’s ongoing mission to promote justice, reconciliation, and sustainable peace across the Philippines. With over a decade of partnership with PBCI and its co-founders, Rev. Dann “Lakan” Pantoja and Joji “Bai Kasunayan” Pantoja, Pastor Jon Soriano brings leadership that is both deeply aligned with PBCI’s core values and forward-looking in its approach to peacebuilding. “I am grateful for the opportunities I have had to learn and grow in my journey of peacebuilding,” Pastor Jon shared, expressing his gratitude and confidence in this new role. PBCI looks forward to collaborating under Pastor Soriano’s leadership as it embarks on the next chapter of innovative and inclusive peacebuilding efforts.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2025/01/emil-jonathan-soriano-is-the-new-chairman-of-the-pbci-board-of-trustees/
The staff and leaders of Coffee for Peace, Inc., along with Kapeyapaan Coffee Roasting Services, Malipayon Post-Harvest Processing Services, IncluDev Learning Initiatives, and Produce Peace+, gathered on December 15-16, 2024, for a Christmas celebration and year-end evaluation at a beach resort in Samal Island, Davao del Sur. The event featured lively parlor games, swimming, and team-building activities that emphasized trust, communication, and shared purpose. These activities fostered joy, camaraderie, and collaboration among the 35 participants. The gathering also included a reflective session where the group reviewed their accomplishments and challenges for 2024, exchanging insights to guide their work for 2025. Concluding with a shared meal and expressions of gratitude, the event celebrated the festive season while reaffirming the participants’ commitment to fostering peace and sustainable development through innovative solutions and community engagement.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/12/team-bonding-and-reflection-highlight-peace-hub-familys-holiday-celebration/
At PBCI, we join our peacebuilding colleagues in calling on the National Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to accelerate the full implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), with a particular focus on the Annex on Normalization, while ensuring inclusivity for marginalized groups such as women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples. Our call stresses the importance of unity among the Bangsamoro people, rejecting divisive initiatives, and urges a clearer process and understanding on Sulu’s historical and political relationship with BARMM. PBCI also emphasizes the need for prompt resolution of election-related petitions to avoid undermining self-determination and calls for strengthened protections for vulnerable communities and ancestral domains. Lastly, it appeals for collective solidarity to hold leaders accountable and advance peacebuilding efforts that promote justice and inclusivity.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/12/a-call-on-the-gph-and-the-milf-to-move-with-greater-urgency-in-completing-the-implementation-of-the-cab/
On the afternoon of 16 November 2024, the Malipayon Peace Hub in Managa, Bansalan, Davao del Sur, became the vibrant venue for PeaceBuilders Community, Inc.’s (PBCI) First Annual General Meeting. The hybrid event—combining onsite and online participation—brought together 42 attendees, including field volunteers from across the Philippines, from Canada, from among PBCI and Coffee for Peace (CFP) staff, partners, impact investors, friends, and online followers. This diverse gathering marked a milestone in the organization’s journey, fostering a collaborative spirit to shape its strategic direction. Emil Jonathan Soriano (PBCI Board Chair) and Joseph “Ka Boyet” Ongkiko (PBCI’s Executive Vice President for Institutional and Program Development) led the meeting with a balance of warmth and clarity, ensuring both onsite’ and online participants were fully engaged. The three-hour session was structured yet dynamic, creating space for individual reflection, group collaboration, and collective decision-making.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/11/first-pbci-annual-general-meeting-generates-strategic-plan/
“Only through sustained peace talks and the commitment towards a transformative political settlement of the conflict can we achieve an improvement in the quality of life of all Filipinos, implement significant socio-economic development for conflict affected communities that are sustainable, culturally and conflict-sensitive, and resolve the long-standing conflict towards a just and lasting peace.” This is the call of the Voices of Peace on the first-year anniversary of the Oslo Joint Communique signed last November 2023 by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). As the Mindanao Week of Peace also officially begins today, PeaceBuilders Community is taking this opportunity to stand together with the Voices of Peace and echo the call to resume the peace talks between the GPH and the NDFP as a necessary step to transform the conflict nonviolently.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/11/we-stand-together-with-the-voices-of-peace-in-the-call-to-resume-peace-talks-and-to-transform-the-conflict-nonviolently/
From November 15 to 20, 2024, a joint Field Operations Team of PBCI and CFP accompanied a delegation of Canadian Mennonites on a Partnership Appreciation Tour in Mindanao, Philippines. The tour featured meaningful activities that strengthened relationships and celebrated shared commitments to peacebuilding, including the dedication of the Malipayon Peace Hub in Davao del Sur, led by Bagobo Tagabawa and Talaandig elders; a Sunday worship service at Managa Alliance Church; a reflective visit to the Bagobo Tagabawa Peace Shrine; a learning tour of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government center; a dialogue with leaders at Camp Darapanan, the headquarters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF); and bonding with the Baraguir Clan of the Maguindanao Sultanate. This journey deepened partnerships and underscored the critical role of collaboration in advancing peace, justice, and reconciliation.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/11/pbci-cfp-field-ops-team-accompany-canadian-mennonites-to-appreciate-and-strengthen-partnerships/
Every year in October, the Talaandig people of the Philippines come together to celebrate their rich cultural heritage, identity, and resilience through the Annual Talaandig Day. This special day honors the history, traditions, and values of the Talaandig, an indigenous group living primarily in Bukidnon, a province in the heart of Mindanao. The celebration serves as a reminder of their ongoing struggle to preserve their ancestral lands, culture, and ways of life in a rapidly modernizing world. The Talaandig tribal leadership invited our team at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee For Peace (CFP) to celebrate with them and to express our solidarity as one of the guest speakers during the program. Here’s our reflection of that day, 14 October 2024.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/10/we-the-pbci-cfp-team-reaffirmed-our-solidarity-with-the-talaandig-indigenous-people/
21-22 September 2024, Davao City, Philippines. The Davao Regional Coffee Expo 2024 (DRCE24) welcomed local coffee farmers, industry leaders, and enthusiasts, marking a pivotal moment in Region 11’s rise as one of the Philippines’ top Arabica coffee producers. Organized by the Davao Regional Coffee Council, the expo, held in the heart of Davao City, brought together key players in the coffee sector to exchange knowledge, share experiences, and strategize on improving the quality and competitiveness of the region’s coffee products. In her opening remarks, Ms. Felicitas “Joji” Pantoja, President of the Davao Regional Coffee Council and Chair & President of Coffee for Peace, Inc., emphasized the vital role coffee plays in the local economy. She called for continued efforts to elevate production standards, aligning them with global demand.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/09/region-11-farmers-empowered-coffee-standards-elevated-at-the-davao-regional-coffee-expo-2024/
The Department of Sociology and Developmental Studies at Ateneo de Davao University has extended an invitation for us to collaborate as a partner in their Sociology Practicum Program. This program is designed to enrich students’ understanding of the social world by offering them hands-on experience through work with real communities, organizations, or institutions. The Sociology Practicum Program bridges academic learning with structured, supervised work experience, allowing students to apply classroom theories and principles in real-world settings. Through this integration, students are not only trained in the practical use of research and project management but are also guided in developing problem-solving skills rooted in sociological concepts.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/07/coffee-for-peace-accepts-graduating-sociology-students-from-ateneo-de-davao-university-as-interns/
Last 27 March 2024, our team participated in the Commemoration of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte. CAB is a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), aimed at ending decades of conflict in the Bangsamoro region. The commemoration prompted us to think differ about CAB. How was it implemented in the past 10 years? What were its accomplishments, gaps, and challenges? In the intricate landscape of peace negotiations and conflict resolution, the journey towards stability is often marked by milestones and challenges alike. Honorable Mohagher Iqbal’s 2024 Status Report on the CAB encapsulates this nuanced narrative, delineating the accomplishments, gaps, and challenges in the implementation process. Here are our notes and reflections on what we’ve heard.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/03/notes-and-reflections-on-hon-mohagher-iqbals-2024-status-report-on-the-comprehensive-agreement-on-the-bangsamoro/
This afternoon, 27 March 2024, our team at PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) participated in the 10th Year Commemoration of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) at Camp Darapanan, the Administrative Offices of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The MILF presented a Plaque of Appreciation to PBCI in recognition of our “unwavering support to the Bangsamoro Peace Process” and for our “tireless efforts to promote peace and development in Mindanao.” Our President & CEO, L. Daniel ‘Lakan’ Pantoja, received the plaque on behalf of our community. The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) is a peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), aimed at ending decades of conflict in the Bangsamoro region.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/03/milf-recognizes-pbci-for-our-unwavering-support-to-the-bangsamoro-peace-process/
In a landmark move towards combating poverty and fostering inclusive growth, the submission of Senate Bill 782 or the Poverty Reduction through Social Entrepreneurship (PRESENT) program marks a significant milestone. “The essence of the PRESENT bill,” Joji Pantoja explains, “lies in its commitment to empower communities through social entrepreneurship.” By recognizing the impoverished not merely as recipients of aid but as active participants in the economic landscape, the program aims to create sustainable solutions to systemic issues. Ms Pantoja was invited to the Philippines Senate to share the vision of collaborative progress, where communities are equipped with the tools and resources to uplift themselves. “Through the PRESENT Program,” Joji adds, “we embark on a journey towards a more equitable and prosperous future… let us embrace the power of social entrepreneurship to transform lives and build thriving communities.”
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2024/03/joji-speaks-at-the-senate-of-the-philippines-to-promote-senate-bill-782-also-known-as-the-present-bill/
