MANILA – Government of the Philippines (GPH) peace panel chair Alexander Padilla on Wednesday urged some 200 future educators to do their part in promoting peace amid challenges besetting the negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF).
“Itong ginagawa namin ay hindi para sa amin. Kayo ang nakapusta rito. Sana ay mag-contribute kayo, hindi lang sa ikauunlad ng inyong pamilya, kung di ng bansa (What we are doing is not for our own sake. It is you who are at stake here. I hope that you will do something not only for your families, but also for the country),” he said in a forum with education majors from the Philippine Normal University (PNU) held at the Main Auditorium of the PNU in Taft Avenue in this city.
Padilla gave the students an overview of the GPH-CPP/NPA/NDF peace process, particularly the difficulties it has been facing. Peace talks between the two parties have been on an impasse since June 2011, following the CPP/NPA/NDF’s demand for the government to release its political consultants, who are allegedly covered by the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), as a precondition for formal negotiations to restart. However, the JASIG mechanism to verify the true identities of alias holders has failed due to the NDF’s fault and there is no way for the two parties to check if the detained alleged NDF consultants are JASIG-protected. Amid this deadlock in the talks, the violence from the NPA continues.
“Kailangan iresolba (ang armadong hidwaan) sa pag-uusap at hindi sa paggamit ng baril at karahasan (We need to resolve (the armed conflict) through dialogue, and not through use of arms and violence),” Padilla said. “Itong insurgency na ito ang pumipigil sa ating development (It is this insurgency that has impeded our development).”
Padilla reiterated the government’s commitment to the peace process and is prepared to offer “a new approach” to the negotiations that is “time-bound and agenda-bound” that will end the violence on the ground.
“It is a win-win situation if we can end the violence. Armed struggle will never be the solution to the problem,” added Padilla.
Youth as peace ambassadors
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Communications Director Polly Michelle Cunanan, who provided updates on the work of OPAPP in the peace process, said that the youth have a critical role in promoting peace.
“Kahit ang mga kabataan na tulad niyo ay maaaring maging tagapagtaguyod ng kapayapaan (Even young people can you can become ambassadors of peace),” she said.
“Hindi niyo kailangan umupo sa negotiating table o tumungo sa conflict areas para makatulong (You don’t need to sit at the negotiating table or go to conflict areas to help),” Cunanan said. “Napakarami niyong magagawa – magbasa kayo ng balita, pag-aralan niyo ang konteksto, lumahok sa mga peace forums, mag-suggest ng mga solusyon (You can do so many things – read the news, study the context, join peace forums, suggest solutions).” She made a strong call to the students to be involved and enjoined them to recite the slogan “I am for peace. Ang lahat ay peace-sible!”
PNU President Ester Ogena urged the students to “have a mindset for innovation that requires a lot of effort for learning to become an effective teacher.”
Be cautious
Padilla, who confessed to having been an activist during his younger days, cautioned the students about joining activist organizations.
“Okay lang na sumama kayo sa simula, pero busisiin ninyo kung ano ba talaga ang layunin nila (It’s okay to get involved with them in the beginning, but make sure you probe what is their real objective),” he said, recounting how he later got turned off after finding out the real motives of the organizations he had joined.
PNU Associate Dean for Behavioral and Social Sciences Feliece Yeban added that the students should consider whether or not joining an organization is helpful.
Yeban shared the experience of several of her students who became NPA rebels. One of them was killed in an encounter with the military on his first night in the mountains. Another came home after a long absence only to find out that his mother had died while he was giving all his time and effort to the NPA. Filled with regret, he withdrew from the movement.
“Kung gusto niyo maging aktibista, pumasok kayo sa mga eskuwelahan at baguhin ang bansa (If you want to be an activist, go to the schools and change the country from there),” she told the education students.
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