By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
SALMA Matias, 19, a member of the Muslim-Christian Youth for Peace and Unity, longs for peace in the island province of Basilan in southern Philippines where she was born. There she had lost many relatives to rido (clan feud).
She was one of some 400 representatives, most of them youth, who gathered at the Quezon Memorial Circle on Sept. 21 to celebrate the International Day of Peace.
Matias, who left her hometown 11 years ago, said she attended the event not only because her group was participating but because she wanted to “unite with people advocating for peace.”
As an individual, she said she believes that “peace starts with me first, then at home in the family, then in the community.”
Edmark del Mundo, 18, spokesperson of the Muslim and Christian Youth for Peace and Development (MCYPD) said their group also supported the event because they share the same advocacy.
He also stressed that “people should not fight because of difference in religious beliefs.”
Del Mundo said their organization, which is composed of some 50 Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Iglesia ni Cristo members, is proof that people with different beliefs can respect one another.
Prayers for peace in different languages and different beliefs offered by Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, Muslim, Shume and Brahma Kumaris spiritual leaders opened the Peace Day celebration.
MCYPD president Crispin Lungkuran, 23, said part of their peace advocacy is also promoting a clean-and-green, drug-free community in Sinag Tala, Project 8, Quezon City.
In Cebu, Nueva Vizcaya, Iloilo, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur, hundreds of youth also participated in forums, contests and signature campaigns in the events initiated by youth network Generation Peace (GenPeace).
In 1981, the United Nations declared Sept. 21 as International Day of Peace. This year marks its 30th year with the UN theme “Peace and Democracy: make your voice heard.”
GenPeace led the Peace Day events here with the theme “Kapayapaan, ating karapatan” (Peace is our right).
Their simultaneous celebrations aim “to raise awareness of the public on the International Day of Peace as a global day of ceasefire and non-violence,” according to secretariat head Nikki Delfin.
He added that the peace celebrations are also intended to enlist public support for the peace processes between the government and insurgent groups — Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the New People’s Army- National Democratic Front (NDF).
Delfin added that the youth network, which was formed in 2006, has been spearheading “creative and collaborative ways of celebrating Peace Day together with different sectors” since 2009.
A peace mosaic wall with designs from 100 different youth organizations and communities nationwide was unveiled on GenPeace’s first year of Peace Day celebration. Last year, it launched an anthology of poetry and prose on peace from youth contributors.
Noel Bonanciar, a member of the Quezon City Federation of PWD (people with disabilities) who also attended the event, said he wanted to be part of an activity which was celebrated by different countries and promoted by the UN.
Bonanciar, 30, said he wanted to observe so that he can pick up ideas for activities for the youth in Bagong Silangan where he currently resides.
President Benigno Aquino III, in a message sent to GenPeace, said the government “pledges solidarity” to the cause of the global day of ceasefire and nonviolence “in accordance with the conviction that the Filipino people’s progress is founded on an environment of peace and stability.”
In one of his two messages to GenPeace, MILF Peace Panel Chairman Mohagher Iqbal said that “peace, the everlasting and real one” is the “best gift we can pass on to the generation after us.”
A Sept. 20 press statement of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) said the Philippine government declared a “one-day unilateral truce” with the CPP-NPA which entailed a suspension of military operations for the entire day by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The statement also said that ceasefire with the MILF “is still holding as the government affirms its commitment to abide by the Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities signed by both parties in 1997.”
Peace day coincides with the anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines.