Forum on Iligan's security mgt held

Members of civil society, representatives of civic organizations, city councilors and few media workers attend a forum on security concerns on Friday, September 16, 2016 at Kalinaw Hall, MSU-IIT IPDM, Iligan.

Police senior superintendent Leony Roy Ga, city police chief officer, informed participants on the security management and strengthening efforts while the city is in a month-long fiesta or Diyandi Festival.

PNP senior superintendent Ga updated participants on the strategic deployment of security
forces in Iligan to secure residents in time of Diyandi Festival celebration. He also provided
hotline numbers for emergency calls needing prompt action. 

Checkpoints and more police enforcers are deployed in strategic areas of the city to suppress potential threats and to maintain the peace and order situation.

Ga also said that all security sectors are mobilized these days for security management.

He also ask stakeholders to help discourage unverified rumors from unclear sources.

Meanwhile, Danica Cagalawan, staff of councilor Bacsarpa, appraised participants of the calendar of Diyandi festivity.

Kamran Shah of Non-Violent Peace Force, Jun Enriquez of Civil Society Organization
Forum for Peace Inc., and Karen Veloso of Institute for Peace & Development
in Mindanao (MSU-IIT) with P/Superintendent Ga.

The conference affirmed six (6) significant matters for multistakeholders' collaborations.

1. Recognize the major roles of PNP/AFP in security management.

2. Acknowledgement and engaging civilian population in security concern.

3. Equal responsibility and accountability of security sectors and civilian populace to maintain a transparent, participatory, and collaborative security management. This includes the use of hotlines and hot-numbers for emergency response.

4. Maximize constructively the opportunity to develop an informed community to ensure complementing roles in peacekeeping and security management. The media are encouraged to maintain its commitment to accurate information.

5. On EWER, inculcate commitment to share only verified, validated, and accurate information as well as help dissipate panic in times of emergency.

and 6. Inspire/encourage the city peace and order council to be fully activated and have its regular meeting where civil and civic organizations are represented in decision-making on security management.

The activity was initiated by Civil Society Organization Forum for Peace Inc., MSU-IIT Institute for Peace and Development, the Non-violent Peace Force, and GIZ Civil Peace Service.

SEEKING HEALING and PEACE ON MAMASAPANO and for MINDANAO

All-Out Peace statement

Mamasapano Anniversary

Today January 25, we remember with grieving the tragic event that took the lives of 5 civilians, 44 members of the PNP Special Action Forces (SAF) and 18 members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and other armed Moro combatants. Each life so suddenly ended and leaving families, communities, and our nation in lingering pain.

Despite investigations by both Houses of Congress and the Department of Justice, as well as by the PNP Board of Inquiry, the MILF, and the International Monitoring Team among others, the truth of the tragic event still has to be fully known.   Unfortunately, the variations in the initial reports of these bodies indicate that  the way to this truth will never be easy, and may not be helped by further  investigation at this time when the electoral season has begun.

Sadly, looking back at the long history of conflict in Mindanao, there have been many incidents that still cry for truth and justice. These include the Jabidah massacre of 1968 that occurred on the eve of the Martial Law declared by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the massacre of 1,500 Moros in Tacbil Mosque in Malisbong, Palembang in September 1974,  the killing of 124 soldiers  on Pata  Island in February 1981, with retaliation brought to bear on more than  a thousand civilian victims,  and the ‘burning of Jolo City’ in February 1974 wherein almost 10,000 were killed – Muslims, Christians and Chinese alike due to the ensuing armed hostilities.  As a people, we still need to learn and understand the history of the peoples of Mindanao and undertake the necessary healing task of transitional justice.

Let us however strive to bring this healing now where we can, even as our efforts for justice need to continue.   The families of the victims of Mamasapano should be supported in their basic and psycho-social needs.  They should exemplify our efforts at healing, not division.  We hope that small discreet initiatives for dialogue and reconciliation among these torn and suffering families and communities bear fruit and be allowed to grow.

Let us also realize that Mindanao and the country have had many stories, not just of conflict, but also of interfaith and intercultural dialogue and peacebuilding. Let us continue to nurture these national and local efforts to bring healing, restorative justice and reconciliation to individuals and communities affected by conflict and violence in Mindanao.

These countless decades of peace efforts and small steps taken collectively by a multitude of actors and communities, both here and around the world, have led us to celebrating the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), not too long ago.   

We therefore appeal to all Filipinos, and especially our legislators, to find the will and the peace of heart, to support and pass a Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) faithful to the peace agreement and the aspirations it is founded upon.   

For those who have fallen, and especially for the bereaved who face the future, let us grasp the peace that is at hand!

~ ALL-OUT PEACE (AOP) Network

Agong Peace Network

Ateneo Public Interest and Legal Advocacy Center (APILA)

Balay Rehabilitation Center

Center for Peace Education -  Miriam College

Civil Society Organization Forum for Peace Inc.

Coffee For Peace, Inc.

Generation Peace Youth Network (Genpeace)

Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)

Inter-Cultural Organizations' Network for Solidarity & Peace (ICON-SP)

Kapamagogopa Inc.

Lanao Peace Partners, Inc (LPP)

Mindanao CSO Peace Platform (MCSOPP)

Mindanao Alliance for Peace and Development (MAPAD)

Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW)

Mindanao Solidarity Network (MSN)

MSU-IIT Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao

NGO Basic Sector Council - National Anti Poverty Commission (NAPC-NGO)

Pailig Development Foundation Inc.

PeaceBuilders Community, Inc.

Philippine Misereor Partners, Inc (PMPI)

SUCCEED - Global

Waging Peace – Philippines (WPP)

Women and Gender Initiatives (WAGI)

Women Engaged in Action on 1325 (WEAct 1325)

Women Peace Collective

Women’s Peace Table (WPT)

For a CAB-compliant Bangsamoro Basic Law