On the morning of Tuesday the 10th we were back on the bus, heading for San Fernando, La Union. In San Fernando we had lunch with PBCI’s Senior Consultant Dr. Mariano C. Apilado “Manong Mar.” We told him about our meetings in Bangued the previous day, and he commended the new relationships we had …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/cordillera-listening-tour-part-2-feb-10-11/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/cordillera-listening-tour-part-1-feb-7-9/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/02/listening-to-the-tingyens-of-abra/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/pbci-mourns-for-the-mamasapano-victims/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/voices-from-the-dulangan-manobo-file/
Disaster Response Networks (DRN’s) coordinated and led by PBCI relief operations trainer Kriz Cruzado have been traveling around Eastern Samar distributing aid since December 19th. As the area was hit by Tropical Storm Seniang in late December, regional needs have ramped up from the already high level caused by Typoon Hagupit. This has not stopped …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/relief-operations-on-pace-in-eastern-samar/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/a-difference-of-perspectiv-natural-disasters-and-social-justice/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/01/our-peacebuilding-plans-for-the-new-year/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/ubjp-is-a-positive-development-in-the-mindanao-peace-process/
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 …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/field-team-relieves-barangay-siha-pbci-thanks-donors/
His name is Romulo Balagbis, 73 years old, from Barangay Siha, Borongan City, Eastern Samar. This is what he experienced during the typhoon: “I swam from here (pointing at their house) to the Day Care Center which is around 150 meters, for safety but the water rises so fast so I decided together with my …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/i-hope-youll-be-back-here-to-help-us-romulo-balagbis-73/
Our partners from PeaceChurch Philippines sent volunteers to join our teams serving Typhoon Yolanda (international name Typhoon Haiyan) and Typhoon Ruby survivors. They interviewed several Typhoon Ruby survivors in the Municipality of Taft in Eastern Samar, an area struck heavily by Ruby (international name Typhoon Hagupit.) The typhoon destroyed the crops and livelihoods of thousands of people across the Visayan islands, and these people now desperately …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2014/12/typhoon-ruby-survivors-cry-out-for-help/
Together with Mennonite Church Canada Witness and our international peacebuilding partners, we journey in companionship, nurturing relationships that strengthen our collective commitment to justice, reconciliation, and lasting peace.
