Goodwill and good intentions

Goodwill and good intentions


Posted 02:35am (Mla time) Jan 21, 2005
By Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the January 21, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


IN LATE November, typhoons Yoyong and Winnie slammed into Eastern Luzon, with the unusually heavy volume of rains, combined with the effects of rampant logging on the slopes of the Sierra Madre mountain range, creating an environmental and human disaster (more than 1,000 people died) in Quezon and Aurora provinces, and parts of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija and Bicol. Most devastated were the towns of Infanta, Gen. Nakar, Real, Dingalan, Baler, San Luis and Maria Aurora.

These towns also happen to be near or in areas contested by the New People's Army and the military for well over two decades now. In fact, the townsfolk of Infanta and General Nakar had just declared their towns a "Zone of Peace, Freedom and Development" last September after a march/ prayer rally in reaction to several killings related to the armed conflict.

While the fighting was halted briefly in the wake of the deadly mudslides and devastation, news filtered out of the calamity area that a troop of government soldiers had been ambushed even while the soldiers were undertaking relief operations. The news spurred the participants in a peace conference, "Panaw sa Kalinaw" held last Dec. 3-5 in Davao, to call for a "typhoon-related ceasefire," even if only in Luzon, as well as an early and longer Christmas ceasefire.

When the government and National Democratic Front (NDF) peace negotiating panels met in Utrecht, the Netherlands from Dec. 16-17, both parties expressed openness, though only informally, to calling for a ceasefire in the typhoon-affected areas. Soon after, both the Armed Forces and the NPA unilaterally declared ceasefires, but only for the duration of the holiday season. Despite a few violations, the ceasefires were basically honored by both parties. The ceasefires have since lapsed.

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NOW the government and the NDF are challenged to look beyond the emergency and give the survivors in the devastated areas "space and time to heal," to recover from the trauma and loss, return to their ruined homes and farmlands, and then rebuild their lives and start anew.

The Philippine National Red Cross has appealed for, at the very least, a "six-month humanitarian ceasefire," reasoning that this is the minimum period needed to complete the relief operations and get the longer-term rehabilitation and development programs off the ground.

As their informal agreements during the December talks in Utrecht showed, both the government and the NDF are not averse to agreeing on common actions for the common good. There seems to be enough goodwill on both sides to make a go of the humanitarian ceasefire. Perhaps all they need is a little push from us, the public, to show that there is public opinion support for not just a humanitarian ceasefire, but for a just and peaceful end to the armed conflict.

For now, statements of support for the call for a humanitarian ceasefire are circulating among civil society groups (how about parish priests copying the statements and circulating them among their parishioners during Sunday Mass?), in hopes that a massive show of favorable public opinion would spur both government and the NDF into doing the right thing. Communities in the calamity-affected towns are also being asked to issue their own appeal, especially from their standpoint as survivors of the calamity.

Peace groups also propose that personages or groups mutually acceptable to both parties, such as the Catholic Bishops' Conference and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, or the Red Cross, be approached to take the lead role in monitoring the ceasefire.

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BUT even now, peace advocates are looking at steps that they and the townsfolk in the disaster areas could take to make the most of the ceasefire, once it is called.

For one, leaders of the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Development, declared in Infanta and General Nakar, could issue a re-declaration of the peace zone. Then volunteers from schools, civic organizations and other such groups could highlight the "window" provided by the ceasefire through humanitarian action, such as helping clean up houses and buildings buried in mud, assisting in infrastructure work, building houses and repairing school buildings, raising funds for sustainable livelihood programs, and pushing for a log ban as well as looking for alternative livelihoods for those engaged in the timber trade.

Over the long term, say peace advocates, "the ceasefire can be an opportunity for confidence building among the government, the NDF and the citizenry, especially if the ceasefire can be bilateral between the GRP and NDF, with openness to monitoring by local citizens' groups."

If the campaign for a humanitarian ceasefire is successful, the minimum six-month period could also be marked, say peace advocates, "as a period of national solidarity with victims of disasters, including those of the Asian tsunami, a time for acts of sacrifice, generosity, caring and helping others to heal."

Great and grand dreams and schemes-but only if all sides manage to come to an understanding and agreement on the need for an extended ceasefire.

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MEANWHILE, the public is invited to a concert launching the Call for a Humanitarian Ceasefire tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 22 from 6-9 p.m. at the Conspiracy Garden Caf‚ on Visayas Avenue. Entrance to the concert, called "Pagbangon sa Unos-Konsiyerto para sa Kapayapaan," is free, but donations are encouraged. Organizers would also welcome sponsors (with a donation of at least P5,000) and donors (P1,000 or more) to defray expenses as well as to raise money for a debriefing program for local community groups in the affected areas.

Come to the concert and lend your voice to the call for a humanitarian ceasefire for our brothers and sisters badly in need of healing!