OZAMIZ CITY -- More than the absence of war, peace must be equated with concrete improvements in the lives of ordinary people, a group of Christian leaders supporting the negotiations between government and communist rebels said.
“Peace must be tangible and manifest not only through the silence of arms but even more through food on the table, clothing, shelter, education and access to the means to meet other basic needs and for them to live in their communities without fear or threat,” read a statement of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP).
This characterization of peace, according to the group, draws from the experience of indigenous peoples who graced the three-day 5th Ecumenical Church Leaders Summit on Peace in Davao City last week attended by 135 leaders of the clergy, religious, and laity.
The PEPP groups together the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) and the Ecumenical Bishops' Forum (EBF) in “working for a just and enduring peace by supporting the peace process between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).”
“We were inspired and challenged by the presence of our Lumad sisters and brothers who kept us attentive to the reality on the ground,” read the PEPP statement signed by Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma, Rev. Fr. Rex Reyes, Jr. of the NCCP, Most Rev. Deogracias Iñiguez, Jr. of the EBF, Bishop Noel Pantoja of the PCEC, and Sr. Mary John Mananzan of the AMRSP.
Next month, the peace panels of government and the NDFP will convene in Oslo for a second round of the Norwegian-facilitated negotiations under the administration of President Duterte who has vowed to end both the Moro and communist rebellions within his term of office through social justice policies that address the root causes of these armed struggles.
This meeting will expectedly take up issues geared towards hammering a Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (Caser) that aims to address the constraints to achieving meaningful development and progress especially among grassroots communities.
Caser is considered the core of the political negotiations, encompassing contentious issues like agrarian reform and national industrialization.
During the August meeting, the panels are looking into the possibility of hammering out a Caser consensus in six months.
Apart from Caser, the terms of a joint ceasefire and general amnesty are expected to be up during the upcoming Oslo meeting, scheduled October 6 to 10.
The PEPP called for “the removal of all armed groups and the dismantling of existing paramilitary groups that divide and terrorize the communities of our indigenous peoples.”
The Lumad communities have been the new battleground in the government’s anti-insurgency drive, resulting in massive displacements and even deaths of a number of their leaders suspected of abetting the activities of communist guerrillas.
The Christian leaders also asked “both the government and NDFP to respect their existing agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, putting a stop to the practice of manufacturing false charges against clergy, lay people, indigenous people and other human rights defenders who are serving the poor and marginalized.”
“We invite support and goodwill from the Filipino people for the peace talks between the government and NDFP which we consider are sincere and thorough, and that as a nation we should stand vigilant against those whose intentions are to spoil the peace process to protect their personal or vested interests against the interests of the Filipino people,” the Christian leaders said.
They said the PEPP stands ready to “render our services and resources to both panels to help in attaining a just and lasting peace in the country.”