Path to peace
 02 September 2008

.
THE disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation (DDR) approach to the ongoing peace process places communities at the heart of efforts to bring about a just and enduring peace in many places of Mindanao.

Under this strategy, affected communities shall have a leading role in the organization and conduct of all peace talks centered on authentic dialogues with DDR as the context of our engagements with all armed groups. These dialogues, as an indispensable precondition, shall hold armed groups accountable for all their actions and shall have as their overarching aim, the goal of ending all forms of armed rebellion in the country.

The wisdom of the DDR approach, lies in its rightful presumption that Filipinos, in their communities and as a nation, do not subscribe and in fact, reject armed struggle as a means to bring about political and societal reforms. Neither do Filipino communities believe in the notion that the force of arms entitles those who bear them to represent the people.

The community-based approach of the DDR is actually a reiteration of the principles of peace, within which all actions of the Arroyo Administration as relates to the peace process are framed. As provided in Section 3 of Executive Order No. 3, series of 2001, the government’s comprehensive peace process shall … be governed by the following underlying principles:

A comprehensive peace process should be community-based, reflecting the sentiments, values and principles important to all Filipinos. Thus, it shall be defined not by the government alone, nor by the different contending groups only, but by all Filipinos as one community.

A comprehensive peace process aims to forge a new social compact for a just, equitable, humane and pluralistic society. It seeks to establish a genuinely pluralistic society, where all individuals and groups are free to engage in peaceful competition for predominance of their political programs without fear, through the exercise of rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, and where they may compete for political power through an electoral system that is free, fair and honest.

A comprehensive peace process seeks a principled and peaceful resolution to the internal armed conflicts, with neither blame nor surrender, but with dignity for all concerned.

The display of support from friends in the international as well as local communities indicates that the government is indeed proceeding in the right direction. Sweden is already on board while former Prime Minister Tony Blair has expressed his willingness to take part in our efforts.

While foreign support for the peace effort is heartening, the outpouring of support from the affected communities for the continuation of the peace process gives greater inspiration.

These supporters include elected officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao who issued a manifesto of support for the peace process and condemnation of the violence in Mindanao and called on the MILF to take full responsibility for the atrocities against civilians.

There is the Mindanao business community who, acknowledging that development can be made faster with peace, expressed their willingness to invest in peace through capacity-building efforts and the provision of assistance for the educational and health needs of the poorest communities in Mindanao.

Press Secretary Jess Dureza’s view on the conflict is correct: That the support for the peace process also extends to communities at the Mindanao grassroots, who are the most affected by the present conflict, and who stand to benefit directly from the establishment of peace.

It is this aspiration for peace that actually unites the different communities in Mindanao – be they Christians, Muslims or Lumads.

It is for them, and through them, that the peace process must continue.

[TOP] [HOME]