Nationwide peace caravan starts today
BAGUIO CITY – The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) will officially launch today (September 21) the “Peace Buzz: Biyaheng Kapayapaan,” a nationwide caravan which aims to promote a culture of peace through an on-the-ground outreach to the public as the highlight of the National Peace Consciousness Month celebration this September.
“Puso para sa Kapayapaan, Magkaisa para sa Bayan” is the theme for this year’s Peace Month. Rather than just talk about change, the theme reflects the positive change we want our country to achieve,” Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza said in a statement.
The peace journey will gather peace advocates from selected parts of the country and board a “Peace Buzz” bus which will tour various provinces – beginning from Mount Data in Benguet up to Iligan City in Mindanao, about 38 kilometers from besieged Marawi City.
Cordillera, particularly the Mount Data, was chosen for kick-off ceremony because of its “historical significance,” an OPAPP source said. It was in Mount Data where the national government, through then President Corazon Aquino, and the Cordillera Bodong ArmyCordillera Peoples Liberation Army (CBA-CPLA), a breakaway group from the New People’s Army (NPA), signed a peace pact in 1986. The signing was considered one of the most significant milestones of the peace process in the Philippines.
Dureza said that the kick-off will be highlighted by the reading and sending off of “framed prayers,” which was made more special as it is covered with Cordillera fabric.
The printed and framed interfaith prayers will be read and sent by the elders and commoners of the Cordillera region to the leaders of besieged Marawi City “as a sign of their solidarity with them in time of crisis.”
Tomorrow (September 22), the Peace Buzz will travel to Quezon City for the ceremonial ringing of the World Peace Bell.
It will then proceed to Legazpi City on Sunday (September 24) for a series of conversations with the youth, and peace film showing activity, “Film PEACEtival.” To make the peace journey more exciting, Binibining Pilipinas Grand-International 2017 and National Peace Ambassadress Elizabeth Clenci will grace the event to regale kids with peace stories.
The Visayas leg of the peace journey will be highlighted by a candle-lighting and launching of other peace and development initiatives, as well as the simultaneous launching of the Samar Women Action Network Congress and Youth Peace Congress in Catbalogan City on September 25.
From there, the Peace Buzz will have a stop in Butuan City on September 27 where conversations with the indigenous people, peace forum on development projects and peace agreements, such as Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Pamana), and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) will be conducted.
The Peace Buzz will then proceed to Davao City for the Mindanao leg where “Huni sa Kalinaw 2.0” unity concert will be staged on September 29, while a “Bike for Peace” the following day will commence in Cotabato City.
The culminating activity of the Peace Buzz will be held in Iligan City for the ringing of the Peace Gong, to be lead by Dureza, among other social healing and recovery activities.
The celebration of Peace Month is in line with Proclamation No. 675 declaring the month of September as National Peace Consciousness Month, signed on July 20, 2004.