Amid
continuing armed hostilities in Mindanao, the
City Council of Bacolod endorsed a resolution
asking Malacanang to heed the appeal for peace
of the Negros contingent of a peace caravan
which traveled last November from Baguio to
Cotabato.
Resolution
No. 972, proposed by Bacolod Councilor Jocelle
Batapa-Sigue, expressed solidarity to the delegates
of the Duyog Mindanao Caravan for Peace and
Solidarity who have witnessed the plight of
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the evacuation
centers of Datu Piang in Maguindanao and Lanao
province. The resolution was submitted to the
Office of the President of the Republic of the
Philippines. The caravan was spearheaded by
the Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW), the broadest
coalition of peace networks in Mindanao.
Citing
that peace is still the best process in situation
of conflict and for the benefit of thousands
of people displaced, the city councilors joined
in the call "to our friends from the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to stop the
war in Mindanao" and asked both parties
to sit down and resume the peace talks instead
of going to war.
The
city policymakers also asked the public to help
the IDPs who badly need humanitarian aid in
whatever means possible. "Children, women
and the elderly which are the most vulnerable
in this situation need food, medicines and other
basic support like water, clothing, and other
items," the resolution said. Bacolod and
its neighboring city Iloilo were keys stops
of the caravan were a number of Mindanao's settlers
come from. The caravan was welcomed warmly by
both cities.
The
resolution was a product of a dialogue between
the local government of Bacolod and members
of Pax Christi Bacolod Chapter who composed
the Duyog Mindanao Negros contingent.
They joined the caravan leg from Bacolod to
Mindanao, passing by Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon,
Davao, Lanao and converged in Cotabato City
in time for the Mindanao Week of Peace straddling
the last week of November and first week of
December.
Apart
from the Pax Christi participants, the caravan
was composed of indigenous peoples from the
Cordilllera, workers, students, Moro youth,
women, activists, NGO workers from Luzon, Metro
Manila, as well as the core group of IDPs, church
workers, Moro community leaders from Mindanao
and members of the Initiatives for International
Dialogue (IID), the Davao-based regional advocacy
institution which serves as the MPW lead secretariat.
The
Pax Christi delegates said they have witnessed
that majority of the people and communities
in Mindanao want to end the armed conflict and
live in peace.
Upon entry to evacuation centers in Datu Piang
and Lanao, they saw the grave conditions of
"bakwit" Muslim, Lumads and Christian
brothers and sisters who for several months
now are deprived of basic human rights like
water and sanitation, education, food and dignified
living condition.
"The
armed hostilities between the military and the
MILF have indeed reached dangerous proportions
because our internally displaced brothers and
sisters in Datu Piang alone for example, have
reached 600,000 and more are unaccounted for
in different areas affected by the conflict,"
said Mark Cervantes of Pax Christi.
"It
is for this reason that we pursue our solidarity
to the people of Mindanao and put the objectives
of the Duyog Mindanao caravan into action,"
Cervantes said.
Similar
resolutions are expected to be passed by the
Negros provincial board, the Iloilo city council,
Davao City council, Mindoro provincial board
among others.
The
Caravan ended with a rousing endorsement of
the development of a Mindanao Peoples Peace
Agenda (MPPA) that will be evolved by the MPW
constituency as a framework of unity and action
on issues and concerns buffeting the peoples
of Mindanao.
