The armed conflicts of Filipinos against Filipinos purportedly to advance the interest of the Filipino people continue to rage on after more than half a century. Billions of people's money had been wasted in an internal war that has cost thousands of lives, many of whom are unarmed civilians, for whom these are waged.
To address the problem, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte earnestly pursued peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples' Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and appointed prominent left-leaning personalities to his Cabinet--Judy Taguiwalo as Secretary of the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD); Rafael "Ka Paeng" Mariano as Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR); and Lisa Masa to the National Anti-Poverty Commission--and scores of others as undersecretaries and assistant secretaries.
Unfortunately, the peace negotiations held closed doors halfway around the world in the Netherlands with third party facilitators once again dragged through several years. President Duterte eventually heeded that call for the talks to be held openly here in the Philippines, while Jose Maria Sison, founder of the CPP insisted that the talks be held just between that government and the CPP-NDF-NPA in a "neutral" country.
It can be recalled that the University of the Philippines System (UP) was offered as a venue and mediating institution between the government and all armed revolutionary forces as far back as December 1992 through a historical resolution of its Board of Regents. An offer that the CPP-NDF-NPA chose to ignore even as UP remains to be a fertile recruitment ground for its Cadres, some of whom were killed in armed conflicts with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The armed conflicts continued despite the peace negotiations. The NPA even had the gall to attack a Presidential convoy which they claimed dared to traverse within their area of influence.
Irked, President Duterte decided to terminate peace talks with the CPP-NDF-NPA.
National Task Force to End the Local Armed Conflicts (NTF-ELCAC)
Clearly, the CPP-NPA-NDF sees that only armed struggle is the key to meaningful and lasting social change and have, in fact, rejected instead of supporting and capitalizing on government as well as non-government peace initiatives. Nonetheless, its legal fronts continue to call for the resumption of the peace talks without specifying where they want it to happen and how the Filipino people whom they claim to represent can participate.
On the other hand, President Duterte stood by his firm commitment to end the armed conflicts by creating the National Task Force to End the Local Armed Conflicts (NTF-ELCAC) through Executive Order No. 70, "Institutionalizing the Whole-Of-Nation Approach in Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace, Creating a National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, and Directing the Adoption of a National Peace Framework."
Among the projects incorporated by the Sectoral Unification, Capability Building, Empowerment and Mobilization cluster of the NTF-ELCAC into its National Action Plan was the adoption and refinement of the Yes for Peace-Bayanihan ng Bayan (Yes for Peace), a youth sector peace initiative that started in UP in 1988 that that evolved into an inter-agency campaign and has generated more than 15 miliion responses from Filipinos, 10 years and older. The plan was submitted by National Security Adviser Secretary Hermogenes C. Esperon, Jr., and approved by President Duterte.
While the NTF-ELCAC focused on building the foundations of the whole-of-government aspect of the whole-of-nation approach, organizers of Yes for Peace worked in refining the campaign, including the registration of Yes for Peace, Incorporated as a not-for-profit organization with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the proposal submitted to President Duterte in a letter dated November 30, 2020 signed by Alcanzare to commemorate the birth of Andres Bonifacio, YES FOR PEACE - BAYANIHAN NG BAYAN is a multisectoral initiative.
The campaign is essentially composed of two distinct but interrelated courses of action:
YES FOR PEACE to "Verifiably document a national consensus to uphold the right to peace and stand against terrorism; and BAYANIHAN NG BAYAN to "Organize and mobilize the Filipino people's pro-active involvement and collective participation for the Whole of Nation approach to establish an era of a just, unifying, sustainable and lasting Peace, Progress and Prosperity through Good Governance."
Alpha Dasmarinas, an educator by profession and Chief Financial Officer of YFPI confided, "The challenge faced in planning is how to get children involved in the Yes for Peace referendum and thus minimize the possibility of them getting recruited to the NPA even before they reach the legal age of 18."
"Given the current restrictions set in place to control the Covid-19 pandemic, we focused on the current structure and existing programs of the Department of the Interior and Local Government," Dasmarinas disclosed, "To determine how to reach-out to and get the active support of the Filipino in the comfort of their homes."
Lawyer Domingo B. Alidon, Vice Chairman of YFPI and President of the Department of Education National Employees' Union, is confident, "With the headway already established by the NTF-ELCAC in organizing the whole-of-government and the active participation of the DILG in the implementation of Yes for Peace as a component of its National Action Plan submitted by Secretary Hermogenes C. Esperon, Jr. and approved by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, can easily be implemented in all the Barangays nationwide.
Peace Education and Consensus Building
The refined plan of Yes for Peace-Bayanihan ng Bayan shows how this can be done by conducting Barangay level house-to-house YES FOR PEACE "referendum" among residents, 10 years and older, in easily doable steps.
Reproduction of campaign materials. The cost of reproducing YES FOR PEACE campaign materials such as referendum questionnaires, tarpaulin posters, and others shall be spread out as thinly as possible through collective efforts of local government units and interested local civil society organizations such as Rotary Clubs, Alpha Phi Omega, Bantay Bayan, Youth for Peace, and other peace seeking organizations. Estimated cost of YES FOR PEACE questionnaires is about one peso per respondent, maximum. Participating LGUs as well as sponsors and donors that will undertake the cost of reproduction may use the reverse side of the questionnaire for their messages.
Distribution and Retrieval of YES FOR PEACE questionnaires. In most barangays nationwide, only Barangay Tanods, Health Workers and Sangguniang Kabataan members and volunteers are allowed to go around the Barangay. YES FOR PEACE referendum questionnaires (one per household member, 10 years and older) shall be distributed "house-to-house" by workers/volunteers designated by the Barangay. Filled-up questionnaires by Barangay Tanods / Sangguniang Kabataan one (1) week after distribution."
Assertion of Right to Peace and Constituency Building
The responses shall then be summarized jointly by the Barangay Council and the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK). It shall be facilitated by the Barangay and SK Secretaries and supervised by the Barangay and SK Chairpersons.
The Barangay Summary of Responses and Individual Responses shall then be securely packed and mailed at the nearest Post Office to:
YES FOR PEACE - BAYANIHAN NG BAYAN
c/o Office of the Postmaster General
Central Post Office, Liwasang Bonifacio
MANILA
The responses shall then be databased by the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) to build up its address check system.
It is suggested that Pres. Duterte's acknowledgement of participation in individually addressed and delivered letter to each respondent KaBayanihan with the end view of underscoring the importance and indispensability of each Filipino in the realization of the common aspiration for to forge an era of peace, progress and prosperity.
According to Engr Joel L. Zamudio, Officer-in-Charge and Acting Assistant Postmaster General for Operations PHLPost, "PHLPost has actively provided postal services for Yes for Peace as far back as 1995 when its Board of Directors adopted it."
Zamudio continued, "We look forward to helping in the Whole of Nation approach to end the internal armed conflicts."
Peter Guillermo, Acting Manager of PHLPost's Management Information System, "We are capable of processing data of respondents or KaBayanihans, preparing individually addressed letters and delivering these to addressees."
The data--name, address, contact numbers, e-mail, etc.--voluntarily given by each KaBayanihan could then be shared by PHLPost to supplement data currently being used for the National Identification (ID) system.
Bottom-Up Declaration of Yes for Peace Zones
After responses shall have been completed, it is proposed that Barangay / Municipality / City / Province / Region Councils adopt of Resolutions Declaring their respective areas a "Yes for Peace Zone". A standard resolution has been based on the anticipated collective responses has been drafted for ready reference.
It is proposed that a "Bottom-Up" approach be employed to facilitate the distribution of questionnaires, collection of responses, and the declaration of Yes for Peace Zones.
Briefly, the declaration of Yes for Peace Zones must emanate from the Sangguniang Barangays. After majority, if not all, of the Barangays in a Municipality or City have been declared Yes for Peace Zones--based on the responses of its constituents, 10 years and older--the concerned Municipality and/or City shall be declared a Yes for Peace Zone by its Sangguniang Bayan or Sangguniang Panglungsod followed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the Regional Peace and Development Council.
Rhoderick de Ocampo, a realtor and one of the Incorporators of YFPI confided, "Actually, the 'Bottom-Up' approach is not new. It is the process used by the DILG in development planning as well as by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in its AmBisyon Natin 2040, the long-term development plan road map of the country.
Top to Bottom Directive
Lawyer Fortunato Guerrero, Executive Director of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and Corporate Secretary of YFPI believes, "The key to initiate the process and keep the ball rolling is a DILG memorandum circular addressed to all DILG Regional/Provincial/HUC Directors, DILG Field Officers and BARMM Minister of Local Government signed by Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano."
"Our hopes are high that Secretary Ano would issue the needed circular in as much as the DILG Staff work on Yes for Peace-Bayanihan ng Bayan para sa Kapayapaan, Kaunlaran at Kasaganaan showed that it is attuned to the programs of DILG," Guerrero, a retired general of the Philippine National Police (PNP), prayed.
It can be recalled that Secretary Ano was Chief of Staff of the AFP when it openly declared its support to the campaign.
Govergence for Sustainable Development
Pursuant to the whole-of-nation approach of the NTF-ELCAC to end the armed conflicts with local communists, the campaign proposes that people themselves be involved in identifying, planning, budgeting and implementing peace and development programs and projects for their respective Barangays or communities.
Initially, existing community-based government programs and projects were listed by Career Service Executives who attended summits and conferences organized and conducted by the Career Executive Service Board (CESB).
The cyberlinks of programs and projects shall then be collated and eventually disseminated through cyber platforms such as official websites of all National Government Agencies (NGAs) in line with the Govergence (Convergent Governance) concept of the CESB. Participating non-government organizations and civil society organizations may also upload consolidated cyberlinks of programs and projects in their web pages.
Notably, the dissemination of cyberlinks of all existing government programs and projects can enrich the One-Stop Shop of government programs and projects stipulated in the Anti-Red Tape Act.
Early Institutional Responses
According to Alcanzare, the proposed implementation plan was also submitted to the members of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines (UP) System; members of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC); the National Security Council (NSC); the Department of National Defense (DND); the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for consideration and appropriate action.
UP allowed YFPI to launch the implementation plan at the Andres Bonifacio Centennial Carillon Park in UP Diliman to commemorate International Human Rights Day.
"We received emails showing us that the DND, NSC and AFP disseminated the Yes for Peace questionnaire and enjoined the participation of its personnel in the campaign," Alcanzare said.
"The actions taken by these major government agencies overseeing national security are virtual green lights and will serve as a beacon of hope to encourage grassroots mobilization of resources, both human and material," he continued, "At the very least, these can be used to erase the doubts and fears of mistakenly being Red-tagged."
Given the foregoing, Alcanzare believes that the objective of NTF-ELCAC to end the armed conflicts by bringing the Filipino people to the centerstage of the Whole of Nation approach can be attained by the end of 2021, "If we are able to document the people's will to assert their rights; denounce the use of arms and violence or terrorism; and their willingness to pro-actively get involved and collectively participate in peace and development, we would then have categorically rejected armed struggle as a means to advance the legitimate demands of the Filipino people."
In a recent broadcast of the Usapang Pangkapayapaan, Usapang Pangkaunlaran Pilipinas (UP UP Pilipinas) hosted by Col. Gerard M. Zamudio, an active Yes for Peace advocate, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Chairman and NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Secretary Allen Capuyan said, "Yes for Peace can be an activity that the youth sector can undertake in their respective Barangays."
"Indeed, it can be instrumental in ending the communist armed conflicts within this year before the election period for the 2022 starts," Capuyan continued, "We need to plan out the details and coordinate with the DILG for its proper implementation nationwide."
Capuyan concluded, "Engaging the youth in Yes for Peace can be a step to minimize their deceptive recruitment into the CPP-NPA through their legal fronts." (PIA NCR)
