Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform

Church leaders of various churches and denominations all over the Philippines reiterated today their call for the resumption of formal peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), as well as between the GRP and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Sharon Rose-Joy Duremdes of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP), Bishop Deogracias Iniguez of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF), Bishop Ephraim Tendero of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), and Sr. Cres Lucero of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) made the call in a meeting of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) in Cagayan de Oro City.

The abovementioned church leaders constituted the PEPP Church Leaders Delegation to Norway last September 2-8, 2008 on a Solidarity Mission for Peace. The delegation met with Royal Norwegian Foreign Ministry officials, the Phillippine Ambassador to Norway, Norwegian Church leaders, the Norwegian Ecumenical Peace Platform, and the Filipino community in Norway. The Royal Norwegian Government is the Third Party Facilitator in the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations.

The PEPP delegation explained to the different groups it met how the PEPP came about, its objectives, composition and constituency. The Philippine church leaders called for solidarity in the quest for a just and enduring peace by addressing the roots of the armed conflict.

The Royal Norwegian Foreign Ministry officials described the PEPP as one of the most important fora for pushing the peace talks. He said the PEPP can also help safeguard the gains achieved in the negotiations so far, such as the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC).

Before proceeding to Oslo, the delegation held informal meetings with the GRP panel in Makati on August 29, and with the NDFP panel in Utrecht, The Netherlands, on September 2. Both panels expressed appreciation for the efforts of the PEPP in helping push forward the peace process in general and the peace negotiations in particular. The GRP panel said the PEPP can bring to their attention the concerns from the ground, including violations of the peace agreements. The NDFP panel welcomed the bridging role of the PEPP and its efforts to generate support for the peace negotiations, especially in working for the resumption of formal talks and the activation of the JMC.