Davao City's Local Peace Building: A forum on Positive Peace Conducted

Davao City – A forum entitled “Forum on Positive Peace” spearheaded by DILG XI in close coordination with Peace 911 of the City Government of Davao was conducted on January 9, 2010 at the Grand Men Seng Hotel, Magallanes, Davao City. The activity is in relation to the continuing efforts of the Department to support the EO No. 70 series of 2018 known as Institutionalizing the Whole-of-Nation Approach in attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace, Creating a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) and Directing the Adoption of a National Peace Framework.

It was attended by DILG top officials headed by DILG, Undersecretary for Local Government - Marivel C. Sacendoncillo, CESO III, USEC Martin B. Diño, USEC Rico Echiverri, ASEC Alex Macario, Asec Florida Dijan, DILG Regional Directors from Regions I-XIII including NCR and CAR, Bureau Directors, Asst. Bureau and Regional Directors, City Director, Provincial Directors, POC Focal Persons, City/Barangay Peace 911 members, Department Heads of Davao City, Governors, Media, Punong Barangays of Paquibato District, Officers of AFP and PNP, Indigenous Peoples, CSOs, Ateneo de Davao University, PLDT, SMART, Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte and others. A total of 260 participants registered in the event.

The activity started at around 9:45 in the morning with a welcome remarks delivered by Davao City Mayor Hon. Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio and DILG Undersecretary for Local Government Marivel C. Sacendoncillo, CESO III.

During the welcome message of Mayor Duterte-Carpio, she shared how she grew up knowing Paquibato District, with all its barangays, as an NPA territory. When she became the leader in the City, it was her dream to make the place peaceful so she organized a committee, searched for the right person to help her find the solution to achieve peace in Paquibato. She thank God that she was guided to the dedicated members of the committee.

Eventually the committee was named Peace 911 and was launched in 2018. Following the concerted effort of every identified group, overtime there were development improvements in the lives of the people at Paquibato District. Extortion problem ended and for the first time in so many years, it was only in 2019 that no collection for permit to campaign was collected to those who wanted to run for government positions. Accordingly, “the success of Peace 911 lies in listening to the needs and sentiments of the citizens and its communities”.

USEC Sacendoncillo likewise added in her message that President Rody Duterte dream of a peaceful nation – whole of Nation. Positive Peace will be the instrument and the effective implementation of EO 70. She also hoped that Peace 911 experience can be recreated and adopted in other places. She ended by saying that “It started with a dream, no one can do it alone, tataya tayong lahat, siguradong mananalo tayo pag tayong lahat ang tataya”.

Ms. Irene M. Santiago, Peace Adviser to the Davao City Mayor, formally introduced the Guest of Speaker from the Institute for Economics and Peace. Institute for Economics and Peace is a research institute dedicated to building a greater understanding of the key drivers of peace. The research is used extensively by international organizations/institutions such as United Nations, World Bank, European Union, Commonwealth Secretariat, among others.

Mr. Charles Allen, the Director of Partnerships Institute for Economics and Peace based in Australia is the guest speaker. The institute is the world’s leading think tank dedicated to developing metrics to analyze peace and to quantify its economic value. It was recently ranked in the top 15 most impactful think tanks in the world on the Global Go To Think Tank Index. He discussed the importance of positive peace, Global Peace Index Indicators, trends and peace and benefits of positive peace, among others. The most notable thing he discussed is the 8 Pillars of Positive Peace.

Positive Peace as he defined is the “attitudes, institutions and structures” that create and sustain peaceful societies. It provides the optimal environment for the human potential to flourish.

As emphasize during the lecture, the 8 Benefits of Positive Peace are the following;