Gov't peace adviser pushes expanded peace initiatives to include all sectors

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 9): Gov't peace adviser pushes expanded peace initiatives to include all sectors

Presidential peace adviser Jesus G. Dureza said Monday the government is expanding its peace initiatives in the country to include the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) and other stakeholders to come up with a comprehensive peace package acceptable to all.

Dureza and members of the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) have been holding peace-building conversations with IP leaders in Mindanao to come up with an advisory council which will aid the peace process with various rebel groups in tackling various IP issues.

As a continuing engagement, Dureza will meet with IP leaders in upcoming peace-building conversations with different stakeholders in Surigao del Norte and Compostela Valley on January 12, Thursday.

Dureza, in a statement, said he met over the weekend with IP leaders of North Cotabato in a gathering organized by Mindanao Peace Advocates in Midsayap, North Cotabato and told them they play crucial roles in attaining genuine and acceptable to all peace accord.

“You understand your situations the best; therefore, you are also the ones who can suggest the best solutions. But for this to happen, you also need to come together as one,” Dureza told IP leaders during a peace table conversation.

The advisory council will provide voices and assure key roles for the so-called “national minorities” in the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front and the implementation of Bangsamoro agreements with the Moro fronts.

Dureza underscored that creation of an IP advisory council is a guarantee for a more inclusive and transparent peace process under the administration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

“We cannot solve your problems for you because we do not know what your problems are. That is why there is a need for you to sit down and discuss them and the possible solutions.”

“We cannot promise to deliver all the needs you have mentioned, but what we can promise is that we will present your concerns during the negotiations,” the peace adviser said after listening to IP issues.

Dureza told the leaders that they can start working on their concerns even prior to a final peace agreement.

“We must not solely rely on the peace agreements. If we can act now for the betterment of your welfare, we can do so and not wait anymore for the signing of peace pacts,” he stressed.

The meeting with the IP leaders is part of the continuing consultation process of OPAPP with the “bigger peace tables” to discuss their concerns and participation in the peace process.

"The negotiating table is a smaller table and only involves the government and the rebel groups. The ‘bigger peace table’ is the general public, which will be affected by the issues tackled in the smaller table. It is, therefore, important to listen to the bigger table,” Dureza said.

He assured IP groups of their representative in the new and expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), which will draft the enabling law for the implementation of all Bangsamoro peace deals and other pertinent measures including the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997.

After his meeting with the IP leaders, Dureza along with other OPAPP officials visited the towns of Alamada, Midsayap, and Carmen. In these towns, Dureza led the inauguration of a 42-kilometer road project under the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program, the government’s peace and development program.

He also took time out to visit victims of bombings on December 24 in Midsayap and on December 28 in Aleosan, both in North Cotabato and distributed relief goods.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=953794