Irene Santiago, Peace Adviser to the Davao City Mayor during one of her Peace 911 talks in Paquibato District
Nine months after the Local Government of Davao City piloted Peace 911 in Paquibato District, the said community has since then been declared insurgency-free by the military.
Irene Santiago, Peace Adviser to the Davao City Mayor, attributed much of this success to the framework, principles and mechanisms used to change the behavior of the residents in the community.
“ The principles and mechanisms used to forward PEACE 911 could be used as a model as we implement Executive Order 70 or the Whole of Nation Approach in Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace," she shared as she engaged with the civil society groups, religious sector, and academe in Mindanao during the Winning the Peace, A Multi-stakeholders’ Dialogue on the Peace Processes held Wednesday at the Ateneo de Davao University.
Peace 911 started grassroots work through series of consultations.
“ It was easy for us to explain to the people because Peace 911 is basically grounded as an Emergency Response framework which means we identified the cause of their fear and hunger and we offered solutions in order to address these problems.”
Peace 911 work is half done in the community thru consultations while half of the work is spent for series of meetings in the Davao City proper.
Santiago shared that Peace 911 is ensuring that government offices immediately address the needs of the community.
Communities in Paquibato District are then visited with a Caravan of Services twice a month, the least.
It is bringing offices such as Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Statistics Office, Education Department among other to the community and provide services at their doorsteps.
“ We bring government services down to the community. Consequently, they started to feel the government’s presence.”
Besides conversing with the locals, Peace 911 is also conversing with the security forces.
“ We made it clear to them that they are part of the peace building effort. Since then, it has de-escalated violence.”
Paquibato since then already has 14 barangays cleared from insurgency, and established police stations where locals trust the security forces and freely move around the area without fear.
Instead of gambling as their main source of living in the past, locals returned to farming while women resorted to container gardening.
“ It’s important to build trust on one another. The definition of war is the complete absence of trust, so we ensured that what Mayor Sara Duterte promised to deliver will be delivered. It’s what we call political will.”
Santiago stressed that Peace 911 worked because of Mayor Duterte’s leadership.
“ If we want to follow this model, it is crucial to have a credible leader. It is crucial to gain people’s trust.”
With EO 70, Santiago cited these learnings from Peace 911 which can be of great input in implementing EO 70.
The said EO reframes and refocuses government policy by recognizing that insurgencies and other armed conflicts are not only military and security concerns but are symptomatic of broader social, economic and historical problems.
It will ensure comprehensive orchestration of related peace efforts and initiatives of national government agencies, local government units and various sectors of civil society by formulating a National Peace Framework anchored on the Whole of Nation Approach.
https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1021463
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