PEACE AND CULTURE. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin M. Andanar delivers a keynote speech during the first-ever Culture and Peace Colloquium at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines in Cagayan de Oro City on Monday (Sept. 9, 2019). Andanar said the attainment of peace and preservation of culture must go hand-in-hand to achieve sustainable socio-economic development in the regions. (PCOO photo)
CAGAYAN DE ORO -- The attainment of peace and preservation of culture is the key to reaching inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development in Northern Mindanao, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.
Government agencies in Region 10 launched the first-ever Culture and Peace Colloquium on Monday (Sept. 10) in Cagayan de Oro City, which aims to promote culture, peace and conflict sensitivity in the development processes, and uphold cultural awareness.
Andanar, who is the Cabinet representative for Cabinet Officers for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) in Region 10, said that culture and peace must go hand in hand.
"If culture is the foundation of all human activity, then peace is the bedrock of development. Without peace, there can be no movement for growth; without culture, there can be no movement for progress. These two values are symbiotic; one complements the other for simultaneous advancement," he said on Monday (Sept. 9) in a keynote message during the colloquium, themed: "Kultura at Kapayapaan Tungo sa Matatag, Maginhawa at Panatag na Buhay.”
The conference also seeks to strengthen linkages between stakeholders in the region through the advocacy of cultural education and peace.
Andanar said the Philippines’ abundance of cultural resources, which is the foundation of a community, is an important tool to achieve peace.
“We have at our disposal the profound wealth of our natural and human resources, and the exceptional skills to shape them and use them for the one most significant element for development and this is, for peace,” Andanar said.
“Pursuing peace for its own sake would simply be a rigid, rational exercise of robotic obedience. Order and the law would be strictly observed. Activities would be controlled and independent initiatives would be limited. Everyone just conforms to a set of standards, or rules and regulations,” he added.
The colloquium was organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), CORDS-Region 10, National Economic Development Authority-Region 10, University of Science and Technology Philippines (USTP) Cagayan de Oro, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine Information Agency Region 10.
Over 800 participants were invited to the event, composed mostly of Regional Development Council (RDC)-10 members and accredited private sector organizations, members of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC)-10, academe, particularly cultural studies students and instructors of higher education institutions, local civil society, particularly those from the culture and arts groups, media, and peace advocates.
During the colloquium, University of Santo Tomas Prof. Eric Zerrudo presented about the Filipino heritage, while Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. talked about peace and security as a foundation for inclusive and sustainable development.
NEDA Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon, meanwhile, presented the underlying causes of ideologically-motivated conflicts in the Philippines.
Under the CORDS initiative, Cabinet members are assigned to particular regions to link regional and sub-regional levels of government to national agencies in order to harmonize peace, development and security efforts, and consequently, formulate solutions to resolve the nation’s decades-long insurgency problem.
This is in line with the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, created by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in December 2018 through Executive Order 70 -- institutionalizing the “whole-of-nation approach” wherein local government units and members of the community can initiate “localized peace engagements” with the communist insurgents.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1080049
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