| From DDR to ‘reflective dialogue’; Apo singers as peacemakers |
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| by MindaNews | |
| Tuesday, 23 February 2010 14:19 | |
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GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/22 February) — From “Disarmament, Demobilization and Rehabilitation”, the national government is now adopting “reflective dialogue” as its new approach in pushing the Mindanao peace process but with the PR man of a major mining venture based in Tampakan, South Cotabato at the frontline. Danny M. Javier of the Apo Hiking Society, a band which became popular from the 1970s to the early 1990s, has been working since last year as communications and stakeholder engagement adviser to SMI. Javier has been promoting the Tampakan project here and neighboring areas, until Secretary Anabelle T. Abaya, presidential adviser on the peace process, designated him and the other Apo Hiking members, as “peace ambassadors” in Mindanao.The Tampakan project, which is managed by the world’s fourth largest copper producer Xstrata Copper, has been touted as the largest undeveloped copper deposit in Southeast Asia. But Javier seemed unprepared to shy away from the minerals industry, with MindaNews on Monday receiving an e-mailed statement titled “MDS Release: Danny Javier promotes dialogue on the peace process in Mindanao.” MDS stands for Mineral Development Society. The soon-to-be-launched new peace tack of the government—reflective dialogue—is a parallel move to the renewed formal peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to the statement. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process said the reflective dialogue will involve around 300 people in every region, with the aim of gaining their sentiments and views on issues being tackled at the negotiating table. Javier, who was tapped to work on the new peace initiative, explained that the reflective dialogue concept allows for a wider consultation and participation by Mindanawons.. “Whatever inputs will be gathered from the dialogues will be collated and given to the peace negotiating panels,” he said. As endorsers of the new initiative, Javier along with the two other members of Apo – Boboy Garovillo and Jim Paredes -- will appear on television and radio advertisements encouraging the public to take part in a series of dialogues that will be held across the region, from Luzon to Mindanao until March. We want people to know whoever and wherever they are, there is a dialogue which serves as an avenue for them to contribute to the peace negotiations, Javier said. OPAPP will employ academic speakers to give details on the position of the government and the MILF, and facilitate group discussions. The OPAPP plans to hire two speakers and get 300 participants in each of the 12 dialogues, nine of which will be held in Mindanao. The signing of Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was aborted in 2008 due to protests and allegations of secret deals. The reflective dialogue initiative makes the peace negotiations transparent, Javier added. The singer said that Apo has committed to endorse the reflective dialogue initiative “to help Mindanao achieve peace and sustainable development.” “Mindanao contributed much to the development of the Philippines. Unfortunately it has not received back as much as it contributed. It is our desire that Mindanao will no longer be overlooked in terms of receiving funds, focus of attention, priorities of development, programs for infrastructure and all aspects of governance,” Javier said. The peace panels of the government and the MILF were supposed to meet anew this month but this was reset to March to allow the parties to review their positions after exchanging draft peace pacts in late January. Hopes, however, for both parties to strike a comprehensive amity accord have been put in doubt with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term ending on June 30, 2010 (MindaNews) Share this story through the following Social Media sites:            |
