TO ALL organizers of this special event, led by Ambassador Asif Ahmad of the British Embassy and Ambassador Bill Tweddle of the Australian Embassy; To the members of the Peace Process Delegation organized by the British and Australian Embassies and the members of the Philippine Delegation organized by the Department of Foreign Affairs;To fellow guests and friends from government, embassies, civil society organizations and the media – most especially to all the beautiful, talented, tenacious, and yes, occasionally ferocious, women here who came to celebrate women’s empowerment and send-off the Philippine Delegation to the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.
A peaceful evening to all of us.
First, I extend our thanks and appreciation to our hosts His Excellency Ambassador Ahmad, and His Excellency Ambassador Tweddle, and their respective Embassies, for being our staunch supporters and partners in the Bangsamoro peace process.
We thank you for being admirers of Filipino women in the peace process, such that you have put together a delegation of us to attend the Global Summit in London next week, and showcase the successes we have achieved and the difference we’ve made in this important sphere of our national life.
Indeed, I think that my fellow delegates will agree with me when I say, in a mix of pride and humility, we are ready to share our experiences in the hopes of inspiring similar stories of success for our sisters – our peers – involved in peace tables around the world.
I have said this many times, women are among the most often and the most victimized in times of armed conflict. Women, along with children, the elderly, and those with disability, are the most vulnerable in war.
Women may comprise half of the world’s population yet we continue to be underrepresented in decision-making bodies that affect our lives.
We know it doesn’t have to be that way. Indeed, in the Philippines, more and more Filipino women over the past decade have played decisive roles in society – as heads of families, business executives, political leaders, community workers, government officials, and civil society organizers.
In the peace process in particular, women have been breaking ground, taking on active roles and succeeding as negotiators, mediators, peacekeepers, peace builders, relief workers, trauma healers – the list goes on.
The Philippine government has made significant strides in protecting and fulfilling women’s rights in situations of conflict. In 2010, the Philippine government adopted its National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security that is anchored on and provided legal basis by R.A. 9710, the Magna Carta for Women, making the Philippines the first country in Asia that has adopted a policy to operationalize its commitment to the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) 1325, 1820 and 1888.
These resolutions acknowledge women’s capacity to make decisions on women, peace and security issues; recognize sexual violence as a tactic of war and a possible war crime, and establish leadership, deploy expertise, and improve coordination among stakeholders involved in addressing conflict-related sexual violence.
We have blazed a trail, ahead of many other countries, for women’s participation in its peace processes. The government peace panel that successfully negotiated a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is chaired by a woman, UP Professor Miriam Coronel Ferrer and includes another woman member, erstwhile Presidential Assistant on Muslim Affairs now Secretary of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) Yasmin Busran-Lao. The Technical Working Groups on Normalization and Wealth-sharing, the Secretariat, and the Legal Team are all headed by women.
And in the same peace process, the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) is a major victory for women. We expect its effects and benefits, both symbolic and real, to be far-reaching and which we hope will benefit not just the Philippine peace process but peace processes worldwide.
For the women of the Bangsamoro, the CAB expressly upholds the right of women to “meaningful political participation and protection from all forms of violence.” It also upholds the “right to equal opportunity and non-discrimination in social and economic activity and public service” regardless of gender.
The inclusion of these provisions was made possible by the participation of women on the Bangsamoro peace table, from both the side of the government and of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Going beyond our borders, it is significant to note that the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is the first of its kind in the world to bear the signature of a total of three women, which accounts for one-half of the 6-person negotiating team of the GPH, and about one-fourth of the total number of signatories. It is the first such agreement to bear the signature of a woman with the role of Chief Negotiator.
These gains and milestones are what we will bring next week to London, as the members of the Philippine Peace Process delegation to the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. Having achieved these gains does not in any way mean work for us is done. In fact, we remain tenacious and ferocious because there is still so much work to be done. Too many of our communities – children and those who are weak especially –continue to suffer from our lingering internal armed conflicts.
Again, our thanks to our hosts tonight. We are one with you in the dream for peace and in putting an end to impunity. Our fight is far from over. We strive for peace at the same time we work for those who have been victimized by conflict.
Our ow struggle in the Bangsamoro peace process is far from over. A lot stand between the Signing of the CAB and the Signing of the Exit agreement as lined up in the Roadmap on the Establishment of the Bangsamoro. What we have achieved is merely the beginning. We have yet to start the more important task of bringing the agreements to a reality. But a good start it is already with the significant participation of women to accompany the process to completion.
It is our hope that our sharing of what we have experienced, and what we have learned will help inspire women around the world, especially in countries where peaceful negotiated settlement are being pursued to put end to violent armed conflict. May it bring them courage to take their rightful places in the peace tables, and pave the way for a real just and lasting peace in our lands.
Thank you and good evening to all.
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