Sustaining peace

WHEN the fighting stops and the decades long conflicts resolved; once the former combatants live side-by-side with their families and when the long-sought peace now reigns in their community, then the challenge and the question is: how do we sustain — and nurture

— the peace.

And the answer, my friends, is a “PEACEFUL ECONOMY” — an economy where the residents who drive it — thrive in it. A peaceful economy is a “CREATIVE ECONOMY” where the resident micro entrepreneurs, the barangay and district stake holders together are in charge of their destiny — not some outsiders.

So, what is a creatively peaceful economy? Imagine the vegetable farmers of Paquibato or Marilog united in a co-op harvesting their cash crop, then PACKAGING these for sale in the Davao supermarkets, their products proudly branded with “PEACE”.

Visualize a visitor spending a day or a week-end staying in a “HOME-STAY”, then STROLLING around the barangay buying a souvenir (a bamboo straw?), stopping to eat a native-cooking, or to drink beer or tuba; buying an artisan item (an earring or a hand-made bracelet), or a painting; watching a Lumad dance; visiting a fruit farm or a bamboo grove; relaxing in a mineral-spring spa; attending a festival of arts and culture; partaking of natural wonders — a river, a lake or a waterfall.

This is a picture of a peaceful economy at work.

-oOo“Bato bato”, sa Senate

Ang tamaan, wag magalit”

Why is the blue ribbon just zeroing in on ‘FAELDON’S FAELURES.’ Whatever Nick did, Bato also did - along with other BUCOR chiefs since 2013.

Most of the 1,914 heinous-crime convicts were freed during PRRD’s admin. If PRRD still believes in FAELED-DON, he should make him his close-in secu, one of the PSG. The GCTA issue begs the question: how many other laws have improper IRR’s?

The author(s) of the law should also write the IRR and both should be passed by the legislature. Let’s repeal (not just amend) the GTCA law and write a new law with the right IRR. And let’s rewrite the BuCor manual.