"This is the hardest part that I should do - to fire a gun." Zamboanga City Councilor Gerky Valesco fires shot that signal the vintasail race at the R.T. Lim Boulevard as part of the Fiesta Pilar Festival Oct. 2007.
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MPA/OPPAP) - - Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus G. Dureza today laments inaccurate news that Malaysia is reported to be abandoning the Mindanao peace process, particularly the talks with the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. In a statement issued from New York , Dureza said the latest development was that the GRP delegation headed by panel chair Sec. Rodolfo Garcia had just returned a few days ago from Kuala Lumpur with positive report that issues on territory and ancestral domain are progressing and that another meeting is set soon, perhaps within the month. Dureza clarified that what is recent is Malaysia ’s decision to renew the International Monitoring Team (IMT) to three months and subject to extension as needed. He added that, to say that this shortened but renewable term for the IMT is "abandonment" is stretching the context beyond credulity. “Malaysia has contributed immensely to our peace efforts and we are confident it w...
NAGA CITY (OPAPP/NOV.2, 06) – Farmers and students in Southern Luzon as well as urban poor and church leaders in the Bicol region are beginning to build their own “dream peace communities” facilitated by a series of nationwide training-seminars spearheaded by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). The Community Peace Encounter (COPE) seminar gathered key leaders and members in conflict-affected communities to facilitate their discovery and appreciation of positive moments and small successes in peaceful times in their respective communities. The seminar also conducted a visioning of a secured future free from violent conflicts and reaping of the fruits of a just and lasting peace, as well as their realization of the value of supporting community-based peace mechanisms, structures, and processes. Last week, representatives of two peasant groups, a student youth group, and a Sangguniang Kabataan federation based in Quezon province participated in a Tra...
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