ABOUT US
Last Updated: March 2004
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Anniversary Issue
Pilgrimage for Peace: Our Continuing We, peace advocates who shared the avowed goals of the GRP and NDFP - the resolution of the armed conflict and the attainment of a just and lasting peace - came to be known as Pilgrims for Peace from a meeting of convenors on September 13, 2002. We had our roots from the August 30 forum last year wherein Manila-based peace advocates gathered around the theme “Peace Talks: Looking Back, Pushing Forward.” A year ago, our common pursuit of genuine peace, a lasting peace based on freedom, democracy and social justice, guided us in crafting the statement “Resume Formal Peace Talks Now!” Within weeks, this unity statement was widely disseminated in all the major provinces throughout the country. A Philippine Star columnist noted, “Signatories of the Pilgrims for Peace statement teem like the sands of the sea. They represent all sectors of civil society and cannot just be ignored by the government.” Interestingly, when Vice-Pres. Teofisto Guingona added his name to our statement, he took time to actually write “Not only with the NDF, also with the MILF.” Similar views from other signatories thus heightened our consciousness to actively contribute in addressing the issues, problems and aspirations of the people in Mindanao at the national level. Today, as we celebrate our first anniversary and commemorate the eleventh year of The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992, may our sense of solidarity as peacemakers be strengthened in this timely conference on “Just and Lasting Peace: A Continuing Challenge Amidst Global and National Crisis.” We faithfully encouraged the GRP, NDFP and MILF to resume formal peace talks on the basis of previous bilateral agreements that have proven to be workable and mutually acceptable. While we began with urgent appeals to resume the peace negotiations, we also marvel at the fact that we have addressed the most burning issues and threats to peace in the local and global context. From January to April 2003, in the face of looming and actual attacks on Iraq, we have seen that Pilgrims for Peace convenors also led the multitude in a series of inter-faith prayer rallies, candle-lighting, protest marches and various forms of demonstrations to stop the US-led aggression in the Middle East. In February 2003, the devastating impact of all-out war in Pikit, North Cotabato moved us to join the fact-finding, relief and medical mission organized by our partners in the Moro-Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA) and KARAPATAN. Moreover, Pilgrims for Peace co-sponsored the Muslim-Christian Conference themed “Building Bridges, Healing the Wounds of the Crusades, Promoting a Just and Lasting Peace in the ‘Second Front’ of the War on Terrorism” with the MCPA and Free Basilan 73 Committee, May 20-22, 2003 in Zamboanga City. In March 2003, the reported failure of GRP-NDFP back–channel talks which were suppsed to pave the way for the reopening of formal peace talks prodded us to invite the GRP, through Sec. Eduardo Ermita, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, to enlighten the public regarding the status and prospects of the peace talks. In a dialogue with Norwegian State Secretary Vidar Helgesen in June, Pilgrims for Peace representatives Bishop Julio Labayen, Bishop Gabriel Garol, and Bishop Alan Sarte of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF) encouraged continuing support of the Norwegian government for the resumption of GRP-NDFP peace talks. Through the statements and resource materials issued, peace dialogues, conferences, public fora and lobbying efforts initiated by the organizations and individual members of Pilgrims for Peace, we can say that much has been done in the past year. But knowing that so much more needs to be done, we must all continue in the pilgrimage for a just and lasting peace. In the face of increasing militarism, threats and on-going acts of aggression against poor nations, arbitrary terrorist listing, human rights abuses and other factors affecting the peace process, may we have the strength and courage to further advance our pilgrimage for a lasting peace based on freedom, democracy and social justice!
A Nation in Fear … The US government’s decision to designate the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) as a “foreign terrorist organization” was to the mind of the many Filipinos, gross interference in the Philippines internal affairs. That decision can perhaps can be laughed off if the US had no fingers stuck in the Philippines security pie. The fact is elite American combat troops are in the Philippines, with their presence increasing to thousands in the near future. At any moment they decide they can slit the throats individually and collectively of the CPP-NPA. And because Malacañang and the Armed Forces of the Philippines “welcomed” Washington’s decision to designate them as terrorists, a terrible bloodbath can ensue… A new activist organization denominated “Pilgrims for Peace” (PFP) urges that the government “resumes formal peace talks now!” with the CPP-NPA. It’s uncanny. The PFP reiterates what this column has been saying all along and states: “We decry what we perceive as US interference in our internal affairs. We are troubled by possible US violations of Philippine sovereignty, including increased US military presence and activity, and its threat to unilaterally take punitive actions against all alleged Filipino terrorists.” And here again: “We ask the government to reconsider its official policy of welcoming the US designation of the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization, in view of its dire effects on the peace negotiations. Signatories of the PFP statement teem like the sands of the sea. They represent all sectors of civil society and cannot just be ignored by the government. |
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