NextGen Day

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) officially converted to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) on Wednesday, ensuring a more inclusive, responsive, and holistic approach to peace-building initiatives.

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity, said the OPAPRU is “focused on enhancing the organization’s structures, processes, and procedures in order to more effectively and efficiently implement” its sustainable programs and initiatives on the ground.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned in nearly three decades of peace-building efforts, it’s the importance of increased collaboration and complementarity,” Galvez said during the OPAPRU’s official launch at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

Galvez promised that the OPAPRU will continue to strengthen its mandate of overseeing all areas of the overall Philippine peace process and promoting national reconciliation and unity as a result of the transition.

Galvez stated that the OPAPRU is committed to putting an end to the culture of violence, transforming the lives of former combatants, and improving relationships between former rebels, communities, and government institutions through the promotion of a long-term peace in the country.

On December 27, 2021, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) 158, reforming and rebranding the OPAPP to the OPAPRU.

According to Galvez, the OPAPRU’s transition will represent an expansion of the government’s peace-building activities as well as a follow-up on the country’s remaining peace engagements.

“Not only is our organization focused on implementing the national government’s duties under all signed peace agreements,” he added, “but it is also creating healing and togetherness among our people.”

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Galvez said the OPAPRU continuing to respond to new peace concerns on the ground and is “more than ever” determined to maintain the successes of the Duterte administration’s peace initiatives.

According to him, the OPAPRU’s six key programs for returning soldiers have improved their towns and people’s lives.

“Under the Duterte government, former combatants are transitioning not only to become farmers, traders, and businesses, but also to become peacekeepers and peacebuilders. They are proof that people who travel the path of peace will be rewarded,” he continued.

Localized peace processes have yielded benefits.

Decommissioned members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Fronts (MILF) in Maguindanao, according to Galvez, have joined the government in promoting peace, unity, and development in the province.

Members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Jolo, Sulu, have also assisted the provincial government in resolving local problems, including persuading members of nascent extremist groups in the area to lay down their arms and return to the folds of the law.

All of Central Luzon’s local government units (LGUs) have declared communist terrorist groups (CTGs) persona non grata as a result of the OPAPRU’s drive for the stabilization of peace programs on the ground.

According to Galvez, returned members of the Cordillera Bodong Administration-Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CBA-CPLA) in the Cordillera region, as well as the Rebolusyonaryong Partido Manggawa-Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade-Tabara Paduano Group (RMP-P/RPA/ABB-TPG), are now boosting their livelihood

Former members of the famed Daesh-inspired Maute terrorist group in Marawi City are now undergoing social healing and peace efforts, he said, which include a series of peace chats and interreligious dialogues.

He noted that the socio-economic assistance and infrastructure initiative in Davao del Norte also improves the lives of conflict-affected indigenous peoples (IPs) in the province.

Localized peace engagements (LPEs), according to Galvez, resulted in the surrender of hundreds of communist fighters.

He went on to say that the deployment of conflict-sensitive and peace-building processes has allowed LGUs to effectively address the fundamental causes of armed conflict “and are now reaping the fruits of peace.”

The policy framework for peace, reconciliation, and unity was operationalized in EO No. 158, which included three principles: conflict-sensitive and peace-promoting, whole-of-society, and empowering.

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