Our continuing hope
and cry for peace
A press statement by the
Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform for the GPH-NDFP Peace Talks resumption
July 1, 2015
“But those who hope for the LORD will renew their strength, they will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NIV)
We are the Philippine
Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), the largest ecumenical formation of
church leaders in the country today. As peace advocates, compelled by
the gospel mandate, we see it within the ambit of our mission to
accompany the peace process between the Government of the Philippines
(GPH) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
We held our 4th Church Leaders’ Summit in Cebu City this June 29 to
July 1, 2015 with sixty-three (63) participants representing the
Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP-men
and women), Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP),
Ecumenical Bishops’ Forum (EBF), National Council of Churches in the
Philippines (NCCP) and the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches
(PCEC) coming from all over the country to express our support for the
resumption of the peace talks between the parties. As we journey with
the GPH-NDFP peace process, we resolved to amplify the call to both
parties to resume the formal peace talks on the Comprehensive
Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) that has been in an
impasse since February 2011.
The former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chair, Atty. Christian
Monsod and former National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)
Chief, Dr. Cielito Habito briefed us on the challenges of social
justice and the need for fundamental socio-economic reforms that will
address the issues of poverty and inequity – the roots of the armed
conflict. We heard the explanations of former GPH Peace Panel member,
Atty. Rene Sarmiento on how the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for
Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) was crafted
through an arduous process of negotiations including the contentious
issue of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG),
which underwent a total of 17 drafts.
We were likewise moved by the testimonies of a health worker, a farmer
and a LUMAD about their experiences of injustice and the violation of
their fundamental rights in their communities. We also engaged in
profound conversations on how we as church leaders and our flock, can
contribute to the peace negotiations in order to attain the peace our
people cry for. This sharing of insights and experiences by our
resource persons and our own conversations has inspired us to remain
committed and steadfast in our accompaniment work with the GPH-NDFP
Peace Process.
Recent developments have also strengthened our resolve. We are
enthused by the recent pronouncements of the GPH and NDFP that they
are open to the possibility of going back to the negotiating table. We
are similarly encouraged by the perseverance and ready involvement of
the Royal Norwegian Government (RNG) in its role as third party
facilitator with the appointment of a new special envoy in the person
of Ms. Elisabeth Slattum, as we also call for a more proactive
facilitation.
We call on the GPH and NDFP to immediately resume the formal peace
talks in order to address the roots of the armed conflict. Along with
this call is our appeal to both parties to make themselves more
visible and accessible to the public, especially to the organizations
accompanying this process.
As an expression of our commitment, we will help spread the good news
of peace through the creative education of our people on the GPH-NDFP
process. We will do innovative approaches to peace in our churches
like popularizing peace sports, songs, dances and other art forms in
support of the peace process. We will encourage our young people to be
involved in different fora. We will likewise make our church leaders
more visible in the public media expressing their full support to the
talks. We will use the time and space during the election months to
consolidate our ranks, strengthen our collective strategies, dialogue
with different stakeholders to sustain the peace process and be more
pro-active when an opportunity opens up for the resumption of the
talks.
We affirm that all signed agreements that were painstakingly
negotiated by both parties in the past are signs of hope and should be
honored to serve as building blocks for future agreements.
We will journey with the parties and our people until the day we see
the dawning of peace.
We enjoin all peace-loving Filipinos to continually pray and
tirelessly work for peace.