Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.

Kaangayan, Kalambuan, Kalinaw ... sa Mindanaw, sa Pilipinas, sa Kalibutan
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BALAOD

 RCED BDSI PEACE CENTER
Military and Police Officers push for peace education, prevention and management of local conflicts and building peace, amidst the Maguindanao incident
We, the military and police officers, declare our strong commitment to continue working for peace in our areas of operations. We, from the Eastern Mindanao Command, AFP (EASTMINCOM), and Directorate for Integrated Police Operations-Eastern Mindanao (DIPO-EM), assert our peacebuilding efforts and pronounce our plan to continue doing peace education and training. We also call in other members of the AFP and PNP, especially the top leadership, to heed our call for the institutionalization of peace education in military and police academic and training institutions. More  
OPKORS seminar in Davao City.
Balay Mindanaw Statement on the Maguindanao Massacre
The latest reports say that more than forty innocent and defenseless civilians, including media persons, have been killed in Ampatuan, Maguindanao Province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. This could be one of the darkest moments in our history. We are shocked and appalled by this madness. This is difficult to understand, much more accept. As peace workers, we have been made to understand that violence could just be an explosion (and implosion) of a deeper conflict. This is a jolting reminder of the deep historical, structural and cultural problems that we have to face. As we seek to analyze and understand this impunity and cruelty, we seek Divine guidance not to fall into the trap of anger and despair. More than ever, we are called to love and understand, really love and really understand. More 		  ‘Boodle fight’ to ‘boodle peace’: 
from warriors to peace builders
MindaNews' Walter Balane, after observing an OPKORS seminar for soldiers in Davao, wrote: "Counting how many battles fought, enemies killed, and firearms recovered has been among the usual indicators in an official’s military scoreboard. But it’s got to change, military officials tell new generation officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Mindanao. But it’s got to change, military officials tell new generation officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Mindanao. Col. Julieto Ando, of the Eastern Mindanao Command, has stressed this point to junior military officers who attended the Operation Peace Course (OPKORS), a conflict management and peace building training, now on its seventh in a series, organized by the AFP, Balay Mindanao Foundation Inc. and other partners. " More
The Philippines: Troupled times ahead?
Read this account by Paul Clifford on the GRP-RPM-M peace talks (from the Respond to Conflict website): "I last visited Manila four years ago - not much has changed. The streets still jammed with too many cars and the papers still full of the latest political scandal and rumour-mongering. Top of the bill are the Presidential elections due next year. Under the constitution, formed in 1897, a President is not permitted to stand for office for two consecutive terms and there are now rumours that this might be about to change. Some papers speak about attempts to change the constitution to allow for a second term, that a state of emergency will be declared, the constitution suspended and the elections cancelled; that there will be a military coup; and others, that ‘people power' will rise up and overthrow the President. More 		 

Hernandez: Where are the Mindanawons in GMA’s SONA?
ANAK MINDANAW Party-List Representative Ariel C. Hernandez expressed disappointment for not hearing more of the President’s statement on Mindanao, in as much as he also wanted to appreciate the recently delivered SONA of President Arroyo and the accomplishments mentioned in it. “I was waiting for her to mention clear statements that concern Mindanao and how her administration also invested in Mindanao, as it should have been reflected in her total budget. Rather, I heard vague statistics,” uttered Hernandez, who expected much from the President’s supposed-to-be last SONA. More

 
Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. (BMFI) is a Mindanao-based, Mindanao-focused non-stock, non-profit foundation primarily engaged in promoting sustainable integrated area development, developing mechanisms and technologies for increased democratic participation of people and communities in local governance, and facilitating resource tenure improvement.
 

Helping Build Empowered and Sustainable Communities in Mindanao. Helping Build Peace.