[vc_row el_id=”” th_section_padding=”default” th_full_width=”default” bg_section_color=”white” parallax_opacity=”0.8″ overlay_color=”#111″][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKj2tNaXyYU” css=”.vc_custom_1458032717600{margin-bottom: 96px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][vc_column_text]My sharing during the Panel Discussion on the topic: Is Peace Possible?
Nov 2, 2013
INEB Biennial Conference Oct 27 – Nov 5, 2013
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
I come from the most war-ravaged region of the Philippines – Mindanaw. I work with a small NGO, Balay Mindanaw, doing modest community-based peacebuilding trying to help create spaces for dialogue in areas directly affected by violent conflicts. I am also mediating a peace process between the Philippine government and the communist Revolutionary Workers Party of Mindanao.
In my homeland, I have worked with and among the most violent armed groups, both state and non-state. I must say that working with them has convinced me that There is Hope for Peace. I have seen the personal transformation even of the most hardline protagonists. I have seen relationships being built and transformed.
This optimism does not diminish the urgency and necessity of addressing and confronting structural violence, especially issues of injustice, inequity and underdevelopment. Justice and Development are the other names of Peace.
Working with the communities in my homeland, and working with more than 300 Asian peace practitioners who are members of Action Asia has convinced me that peoples and communities are capable of winning their own victories, winning their own peace.
Peace processes are holding because those involved have begun to find common ground… There has been genuine transformation of individuals and of relationships which will hopefully lead to transformation of societal structures. More importantly, there is a growing peace constituency that will not just allow war to happen.
Inclusive Peace is possible if no one is excluded. It is not about defeating the enemy, but transforming relationships and structures.
We just have to believe that all our modest peace initiatives add up. Like a hundred or a thousand of flowers blooming. As we peaceworkers say: PEACE Writ Large.
The winds of change are blowing, and many homes are happy to welcome the change. So they open doors and windows. Trust, which takes so much to build, is beginning to be built among the protagonists in the violent conflicts. Structures of violence are not immortal.
Peace is possible when people refuse to be victims. Peace is possible when we all realize that we are all resources for peace.
There is hope.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_column_text css_animation=”appear” css=”.vc_custom_1456142653980{padding-top: 3px !important;padding-right: 3px !important;padding-bottom: 3px !important;padding-left: 3px !important;background-color: #dddddd !important;}”]
Peace Stalk!
by Kaloy Manlupig
I have finally decided to open this space to share with you my thoughts, some mundane, some trivial and hopefully some profound.
I have been getting some words of encouragement to pursue writing and sharing my thoughts but I have always hesitated. I am actually more comfortable just keeping my written thoughts in my phone or tablet. Sometimes they find their way to my fb posts.
While I may have some flashes of writing brilliance (ehem), I also know that I often suffer from what others call writer’s block – and what I call plain laziness.
Seriously now, what made me decide to do this?
I realized that there is big probability of waking up one day, and there would not be any chance to say the things I wanted to say. Say it now.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]