24 April 2017 — The Cordillera Peoples’ Liberation Army (CPLA) invited representatives of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) to their dialogue with Sec. Jesus Dureza, the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process under the current Administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. PBCI sent me in my capacity as Executive Vice President. With me was Ms. Maimai Lim, …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2017/04/cpla-invites-pbci-to-observe-their-talks-with-government-peace-negotiators/
Our hearts and minds resonate with the voices of our colleagues at the ALL-OUT PEACE MOVEMENT. ALL-OUT PEACE RATHER THAN ALL-OUT WAR Alarmed by the recent announcement of an all-out war by the Philippine government through Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), New People’s Army (NPA) and …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2017/02/peace-advocates-no-to-all-out-war-yes-to-all-out-peace/
11 November 2016, Basilan Province. I learned a lot listening from various community leaders and sectoral representatives about their perceptions and understanding of the conflicts in their respective communities. After sharing with them the ‘PIN-CAB Tools for Conflict Analysis’ for the past three consecutive afternoons, 10 groups were able to crystalize and communicate their understanding …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2016/11/listening-and-learning-from-the-yakan-people-of-basilan/
For the first time in the history of our people and our land, a Philippine president brought together all the revolutionary forces around the table-of-conversation. He even invited all these forces to help govern this nation. And 92% of us welcome this inclusive, transparent governance. For these, we rejoice and celebrate! I danced with …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2016/09/whats-in-my-heart-as-i-personally-celebrate-the-international-day-of-peace/
“…there is no shortcut solution to the current refugee problem. Humanity is in crisis – and there is no exit from that crisis other than the solidarity of humans.” Zygmunt Bauman, 2016 As the opening quotation clarify, the world refugee crisis can only be addressed by the solidarity of humans. Sadly, this famous phrase …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2016/07/world-refugee-crisis-an-elephant-in-the-room/
“In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become a part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed… I use the term radical in its original meaning — getting down to and understanding the root cause. It means facing a system that …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2016/05/moment-of-decision-radical-transformation/
A NON-VIOLENT, RADICAL TRANSFORMATION God willing, by January 01, 2021, the PAR Communities in all the provinces of the Philippines would advance as a Peace and Reconciliation Movement with an integrated framework for peace-building, who are organized in partnership with various parts of the People of God, who are mobilized to do ministries of justice …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/a-non-violent-revolution/
Queenilyn Liwat grew up listening for gunfire. In her hometown of Banisilan, North Cotabato, she and her friends learned from an early age how to survive in a warzone. “Whenever there are gunshots, even if we are afraid, we have to be brave and alert, or else we will die like the others. There’s only …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/09/queenie-liwat-campaigns-for-peace-in-north-cotabato/
Longtime Coffee For Peace (CFP) barista Catherine Moreno Olitao wants the Philippines’ small farmers to hold onto their land. She sees how the modern, globalized economy squeezes the life out of traditional family based agriculture, pressuring poor rural folk to cash out and move to the city. Catherine’s farmer relatives live under this strain, and …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/07/catherine-moreno-olitao-learning-and-teaching-at-coffee-for-peace/
Young Jun Aparece pricked up his ears when Bobby Alonto began to tune the guitar. In the Muslim dormitory, on Mindanao State University’s main campus, Alonto and his brothers were about to launch into a chorus lauding their Moro people’s age-old, ongoing struggle for self-rule. It was the early 1980s, and nearly two decades of dictator Ferdinand …
Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2015/06/moro-autonomy-a-mindanaoan-christians-thirty-year-advocacy/
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/
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/
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