Feature: Army’s ‘Peacebook’ Mission—sowing seeds of peace, caring communities

From the Philippine Information Agency (Feb 22): Feature: Army’s ‘Peacebook’ Mission—sowing seeds of peace, caring communities

In the past, fine soldiery means firing the guns of war, making body counts of enemies who fell in combat, and recovering enemies’ firearms but today, the peacebuilding and peacekeeping works done on the ground is a ‘plus’ measure of a soldier’s success.

Lt. Col. Lennon G. Babilonia, Commanding Officer of the army’s 8th Infantry Battalion said this peacebuilding is part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP) Bayanihan.

In Impasugong town in Bukidnon, the Army’s 8th Infantry Battalion (8IB) of the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) recently launched its “Peacebook Project” and delivered heaps of books for Ulayanon Elementary School in Barangay Kalabugao and Bulonay Elementary School in Barangay Bulonay through Mayor Anthony A. Uy and Schools District Supervisor of Impasugong Dr. Ramilito P. Paloma during the Municipal Peace and Order Council meeting.

“The project aims to promote good moral values and cast the idea of violence in the minds of young generations especially in identified conflict-affected areas because these children’s books portray many of life’s lessons on the value of love and peace,” Lt. Col. Babilonia said.

This is amidst the recent issues appearing limelight of traditional and social media on the alleged communist-run schools in the different hinterlands in Mindanao, which “radicalize” the minds of children and inculcate violence and armed revolution as a way towards achieving peace.

He said, the books, donated by Asia Foundation will be the tipping point for promoting a culture of reading amongst the schoolchildren of Kalabugao and Bulonay villages.

Building peace

The 8th Infantry Battalion continuously invested in its efforts on ‘Bayanihan Team Activities’, which is centered at peace building and conflict mitigation in communities that are most affected by insurgency.

The year 2015 has been significantly a peaceful year in Impasugong town, which can be attributed to the deployment of battalion’s Bayanihan Teams back in 2014 that helped facilitate the delivery of basic services to communities and opened up developmental projects such as road concreting project of Damay-Kalabugao road, and the 30-km road concreting project implemented through the PAMANA (Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan) program.

As part of its post ‘Bayanihan Team Activities’, the “Peacebook Project” exemplify the battalion’s commitment to free the community, especially the children and the minors, from exploitations of leftist groups and the New Peoples Army that only promote violence as a means of solving local issues.

Caring communities

The army’s 8th IB has increased cooperation since it acknowledged the contribution of each civil society organization, government agency—and even opens up space for the involvement of the community.

“We consider our schools as the second home for our children and therefore, these institutions are sacred. And being so, we must protect and preserve its sanctity by investing in our future and focusing our efforts in bringing goodwill to schools. We can promote peace through various activities, instead of radicalizing the minds of our schoolchildren. We must teach our children the values and very foundation of caring for one another, respecting others' rights, and embracing harmony towards creating a culture of peace in the community. Through these books, we hope to bring forth the importance of education as a long term ticket to a peaceful and better life. This project is another convergence program, which signifies our strength in unity. This is what our AFP’s campaign plan is all about; this is what IPSP Bayanihan is all about,” Lt. Col. Babilonia said.

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/1501456109503/feature-army-s-peacebook-mission-sowing-seeds-of-peace-caring-communities