Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform

Mark S. Ventura
CBCP News

DAVAO CITY, Sept. 13, 2009–The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP), a network of church aggrupations that promote the peace process as a way of addressing issues of conflict, reforms and social justice will hold a forum on peace talks on September 19.

The forum which will be held in the High School Audio Visual Room of Assumption College of Davao in Cabaguio Street, this city will discuss initiatives on achieving just and enduring peace between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF).

With the theme, “CASER: The journey towards a just and enduring peace,” the CASER or Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms is the next agenda of the peace process.

PEPP-Davao Coordinator Sr. Luz Mallo said that through this forum they hope to draw suggestions from the Church and other sectors on how to address the socio-economic issues and build mechanisms to sustain the talks.

“We are pleased with the announcement that peace talks between the government and the NDF will be resuming. In line with this, we believe that we church people must do our part to understand and promote the upcoming peace process,” she said.

As part of their promotion on the peace process, PEPP conducted a series of forums last December in Davao, Cotabato and Cagayan de Oro in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the promotion of the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

Other convenors of PEPP are Bishop Constante Claro of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum and Bishop Delfin Callao, Jr., of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.

Other members are Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Bishop Ephraim Tendero of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches; Ms. Sharon Rose Duremdes of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines; Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum and Sr. Ces Lucero, SFIC of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines.