OPAPP rolls off nationwide peace caravan from Baguio

From the Philippine News Agency (Sep 20): OPAPP rolls off nationwide peace caravan from Baguio

In celebration of the National Peace Consciousness Month, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) will roll out a “Peace Buzz” caravan from here to Mindanao on Thursday, September 21.

The caravan is aimed at bringing to the grassroots the consciousness, understanding and sustaining of institutional and popular support to build a culture of peace.

The National Peace Consciousness Month is observed every September by virtue of Proclamation 675 issued in July 2004. The nationwide caravan will start in Baguio on September 21.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who chairs the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) and Peace and Order Council (RPOC), said the OPAPP’s "Peace Buzz" is a “road trip” towards peace that will bring the government’s peace initiatives to the ground.

“A peace caravan will journey from northern Philippines, in Baguio to the south in Marawi,” he said. It will make stopovers in Quezon City, Legazpi City, Catbalogan City, Butuan City, Davao City, Iligan City and will end in Marawi for the closing ceremony of the National Peace Consciousness Month.

During the send-off program on September 21, Cordillera elders will do a customary prayer ritual followed by an interfaith prayer for peace.

“This prayer for peace will be sent to the people of Marawi through the Peace Buzz to be handed to the community leaders of Marawi in hope that this offering will convey the Cordillera people’s solidarity with them in their time of crisis,” Domogan relayed.

Messages of peace carrying the theme, “Puso para sa kapayapaan, magkaisa para sa bayan, will be given by RDC, RPOC, a Cordillera elder who advocates for peace, and a Muslim community leader.

The National Peace Consciousness Month is celebrated to instill greater consciousness and understanding among the Filipino people on the comprehensive peace process to strengthen and sustain institutional and popular support to promote a culture of peace based on non-violence, respect for fundamental rights and freedoms, tolerance, understanding and solidarity.

"It reflects the positive change we want our country to achieve and to remind us to put a little more understanding and respect to one another despite the differences in culture, which can be the strength of our country," Mayor Domogan said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1009955