Church leaders, peace advocates call on gov’t, NDFP to resume talks

CenPEG News
Nov. 19, 2018

Nov-9-2018-at-PEPP
"The harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

Ending a three-day summit on Nov. 9, 2018, church leaders and peace advocates from all over the country called for the resumption of peace talks between the Duterte administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The call was made at the conclusion of the 7th Ecumenical Church Leaders’ Summit – “Discerning and Acting for Peace” - held from Nov. 7-9, 2018, Cebu City. The summit was convened by the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEEP) whose leaders and members came from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum (EBF), Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP), National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC).

The stalled peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP was the centrepiece of the summit.

Attended by hundreds of church leaders, peace advocates, civil society organizations, and NGOs from all over the country, the church leaders’ summit had Prof. Bobby M. Tuazon, also CenPEG’s director for policy studies, as the keynote speaker. In his keynote address, Tuazon assessed the 38-year long peace process between the government and NDFP and the imperative of pursuing it with the involvement of PEPP as well as other stakeholders given the deteriorating social and economic conditions of the people. He said, “Peace should no longer be the proverbial ‘lone voice in the wilderness’ but one that inhabits the hearts and minds of the people.” (See the link)

In its concluding statement, the PEPP also asked the government and NDFP to honor and implement all signed agreements especially the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

The summit was led by PEPP leaders Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ; Bishop Deogracias S. Iniquez, Jr.; Rt. Revd. Felixberto L. Calang; and Bishop Rex Reyes, formerly NCCP general secretary.

Solidarity messages were given by Deputy Secretary Stiaan Hegland of the Norwegian Embassy whose government is the third party facilitator of the peace talks; and Kris Faishedt, the UN Regional Coordinator for Peace and Development; and Caritas Norway’s Aron Johan Halfen. Other summit speakers were Rey Claro Casambre, executive director of Philippine Peace Center; Assistant Secretary Cheryl Daytec Yangot, Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP); Dr. Abhoud Syed Lingga, member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s implementing panel; Emma Leslie, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies; and Dr. Melba Maggay, Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture. CenPEG News

Downloadables:

> PEPP Cebu conference KEYNOTE PAPER

> PEPP STATEMENT