Kababaihan at Kapayapaan Issue No. 4

Issue No.
PAMANA: A legacy of peace,

development and hope
Halfway homes for rebel returnees
Healing the walking wounded

Human rights victims of martial law
The long road to recognition and reparation
September 2015
Contents
Editorial Board
Chair
Sec. Teresita Quintos Deles
Usec. Ma. Cleofe Gettie Sandoval
Pennie Azarcon dela Cruz
Jurgette Honculada
Paulynn Paredes Sicam
Editorial Staff
2
1
2
7
FroM THe PUbLiSHer
Human rights victims of
martial law
The long road to recognition
and reparation
By Kris L. LacaBa
10
21
29
Sidebar: Women torture

survivors speak out
By Kris L. LacaBa
10
18
Peace takes root in

bangsamoro
By JosHua PiLe and Mc Jazer
MaLonda
CoVer STorY
PAMANA: A legacy of peace,
By JenniFer L. sanTos
in Cordillera
Women grow circles of
peace
By sHei daTinginoo
Halfway homes for rebel

returnees
Healing the walking
wounded
By JurgeTTe HoncuLada
33
35
Staff
Jurgette Honculada
Kris L. Lacaba
Melisa Yubokmee
Photographer
Women who run the

ArMM
By MiracLe JacKLyn z. esPinas
and MeLisa yuBoKMee
Sidebar: Anisa Taha:
Survivor of war, builder
of peace
By Mc Jazer MaLonda
Sidebar: A painful
memory
By cHiT asis
Editor
Paulynn Paredes Sicam
NAP WPS Update

building women friendly
spaces
By JurgeTTe HoncuLada
Joser Dumbrique
Layout Artist
Mai Ylagan
KABABAIHANat
KAPAYAPAAN
This magazine is published bi-annually by
the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the
Peace Process
Address
7th Floor, Agustin 1 Bldg.
F. Ortigas Jr. Road
Ortigas Center, Pasig City
reFLeCTioN
A Soldiers Song
Poetry by Marra PL. LanoT
36
PeACe TAbLe UPDATeS
38
NeWS brieFS
40
PeACe CALeNDAr
Telephone
+632 636 0701 to 07
Fax
+632 638 2216
Website
www.opapp.gov.ph
Connect with us!
peace.opapp
@OPAPP_peace
peaceopapp
[email protected]
ON THE COVER: Children give the peace sign at a PAMANA project in Silvino Lubos in
Northern Samar. PAMANA has opened up remote conflict areas to development, allowed
farmers to increase their produce and market them at better prices, and given children
access to education. Cover photo by JOSER DUMBRIQUE
From the Publisher

Physician-turned-revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara
famously declared, At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the
true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. Like Che, and at
the risk of sounding mushy and maudlin, let me say that this issue of K&K
magazine is a love storya compendium of loves labors lost and found.
The reportage covers two generations of rebels and activists, their struggles
reaching from the Cordillera highlands to the plains of Maguindanao and the
mountain fastness of Caraga, their resistance dating back to the martial law
era, their defiance etched in the tales of NPA cadres, MILF rebels and others
who have foresworn all in pursuit of a new social order.
There is a specific poignancy to the tales of those who take to the hills, or
go undergrounda burning of bridges and the near-certain knowledge that
one cannot go home again. Yet the account of armed conflict in the country
is also one of interfacing circles: of families who will not let go; of soldiers,
police and paramilitary who fight for good or ill; of religious and the private
sector who lend support with their faith and their pockets.
This account is also one of transformation: of rebels who have laid down their arms; and soldiers, once brutal enforcers
of martial rule, who are now instruments of peace and development; of fellow (left) travelers committed to the
flowering of democratic space against forces of the ancien regime.
And, arguably, the deepest transformation is among the women who, in one generation, move from victims to
survivors to victors to peacemakers, that is nothing if not earth-shaking. But the conflict is also a story of healing
without which broken souls and bodies and communities can never be mended, hence CLIP and the Davao programs
and PAMANA; and long-delayed reparations to victims of human rights abuses.
Our love of country is so deep and wide it fueled valiant rebellions (both pocket and protracted) against colonial Spain;
it challenged war-weary rebolusyonaryos to take on an emergent and armed Pax Americana; it fired our elders to combat
Japanese military expansionism. It finally ousted a homegrown dictatorship through a sea gathering of unarmed
civilians pangkaraniwang mamamayan on an urban highway fronting two military camps.
Rebellion and reconciliation are really twin parts of a great love story. This same love of country now calls on us to turn
our swords into plowshares, to honor that which unites us and to peacefully come to terms with that which divides us.
And so we have peace tables in various stages of completion and negotiation, even impasse.
The call of the hour is to join in common cause with our Moro brothers and sisters, to overcome the roadblocks to a
Bangsamoro Basic Law that will redress historical wrongs and restore to Mindanao the promise of a land that is fair,
just and prosperous for Muslim and Christian alike.
That is part of our love story, yet a work in progress.
teresita Quintos deles
September 2015
KABABAIHANatKAPAYAPAAN
human rights victims of martial law
the long road to recognition and reparation

Four decades after their ordeal, victims of human rights violations are
still learning to deal with the trauma.
By Kris L. LacaBa
one of the last Persons

to arrive heaved a sigh of relief that
the lines were finally dwindling.
When she finally reached the front
of the line, she fumbled with her
papers: an application form, a
notarized statement, supporting
documents consisting of, in her case,
statements of witnesses.
The person at the other side of the
desk inspected the papers sheet by
sheet, and placed them in a brown
manila envelope. The person asked
her a few questions then told her to
sit still for a photo.
Sharon (not her real name) had heard
of the first round of applications and
in fact promised an acquaintance at
the Human Rights Violations Claims
Board (HRVCB) that she would send
in her requirements immediately.
More than 75,000 filed for reparations with the HRVCB. (HRVCB photo)
write turned out to be harder

than she imagined. She would go
to bed without having put down
a single word. She would have
recurring nightmares and be
awakened by her own sobs. I dont
understand, she told herself. This
isnt me, I never cry.
She had to write down her personal

account of her experience during
martial law and submit that as part
of the requirements. But the process
of recalling her arrest and torture
proved to be difficult.
One day, she received a visit from

a friend, Anne (not her real name),
who also had difficulty writing her
story. Anne and Sharon were
together in the detention center and
each knew very well what the other
went through.
Sharon thought she had moved

onthe events were exactly 39 years
behind her nowbut sitting down to
Anne told her of how she too would

cry in her attempts to put together
her own account of her torture, but
that she felt much better after

writing down her story. She had, in
fact, just been to the HRVCB office
to hand in her papers.
Hearing about Annes struggle to
tell her own story gave Sharon
strength. Suddenly she felt less
isolated knowing that her crying
fits were not abnormal and that
her struggle in telling her story was
shared by other torture victims.
With a week left before the deadline
in the second and final round of
filing, Sharon set out to complete
her requirements then headed to
the HRVCB office inside the
University of the Philippines campus
in Diliman, Quezon City.
September 2015
Sharon and Anne are only two of

many who suffered under martial
law, a time when many men and
women were subjected to various
human rights violations such as
summary executions, arbitrary
detention, torture, rape, enforced
disappearances, forced exile and
other demeaning punishment.
men. Many women were killed,

disappeared, detained or tortured.
But the women were also vulnerable
to gender-specific forms of abuse.
In addition to actual sexual
abuse, women were subjected to
psychological threats of sexual abuse,
which brought with them their own
sets of trauma.
A double burden for women
Parong says that in safe houses and

other makeshift detention centers,
women were sometimes tasked to
do the cooking and cleaning, which
amounted to domestic servitude.
The HRVCB received almost 47,000

applications during the first round of
filing from May 12 to November 10,
2014. Due to a clamor to extend the
filing period, Congress passed Joint
Resolution No. 03 for the holding of
another round of filing from April 8
to May 30 of this year.
By the time the period for filing
closed on May 30, as many as 75,537
had filed with the Board.
Applications for claims were received
at HRVCB office in Diliman, and at
satellite offices set up around the
country and abroad. (The number
of claimants will be updated once
applications from satellite units are
fully accounted for.)
The number of applications the
HRVCB received was significantly
higher than the 20,000 the
government was anticipating.
Even when it was the men who were

killed or detained (especially when
these men were their families sole
breadwinners), the women survivors
had to bear the burden of taking over
as providers for the family.
A process with bumps and gains
The filing of applications was

not without its bumps. Journalist
Ceres Doyo, whose house the
military raided after articles she
wrote about Macliing Dulag were
published, recalled in an inquirer
article how she initially had to
haggle with an HRVCB staffer
regarding additional requirements
with regard to her identity.
One claimant abroad (who asked

to not be named), said that her
fellow claimants had to make
return trips to the consulate
because of incomplete documents
and attachments.
What exactly are the applications
for? Following the passage of
Republic Act No. 10368, the Board
set out to gather narratives from
victims of human rights violations
about their stories of human rights
abuses at the hands of government
agentsincluding those committed
by the police and the military
during martial law.
R.A. 10368, An Act Providing
Reparation and Recognition of
Victims of Human Rights
Violations During the [Ferdinand]
Marcos Regime, Documentation
of Said Violations, Appropriating
Funds Therefor and for Other
Purposes seeks to recognize the
human rights victims and provide
them with reparations. The
law, also known as the Human
Rights Victims Reparation and
Recognition Act of 2013, was
signed by President Benigno S.
Aquino III during the anniversary
of the People Power revolution on
February 25, 2013.
Available partial statistics from the

HRVCB showed 1,513 claimants
alleged to have been raped or
sexually abused, while 551 suffered
other forms of sexual offenses during
detention. According to Dr. Aurora
Parong, an HRVCB board member, a
few of these victims were men. But
mostly, they belong to the 16,755
(partial tally) women claimants.
Women were vulnerable to the
same human rights abuses as the
September 2015
Dr. Aurora Parong says R.A. 10368 performs a significant role in

establishing justice in the country. (Photo by Kris L. Lacaba)
Etta Rosales shows her

acknowledgement slip after filing
for claims. (HRVCB photo)
This is the first time the government

has given official recognition to the
atrocities committed during the
martial law period. Etta Rosales,
former party list representative and
former head of the Commission on
Human Rights, says that R.A. 10368
is the first law in the country and
in Asia in which the State recognizes
that it has committed human rights
violations and tries to account for
its wrongdoing.
Philippine government has been able

to recover so far. This law says we
need to set aside money [from the
ill-gotten wealth] for martial law
victims, she says.
responsible for. First, The Marcos

regime plundered the wealth of the
country and caused the economy to
sink. The national debt rose and the
peso was greatly devalued.
Parong says that although R.A. 10368

does not provide for the prosecution
of perpetrators of human rights
violations, it nevertheless performs
a significant role in establishing
justice in the country. Recognition
of the victim is part of justice.
Reparation for the victim is part
of justice.
Second, Legislative and judiciary

powers were usurped by one
person. Martial law destroyed our
democratic institutions that were
responsible for the checks and
balances in the government.
Third, Martial law was responsible
for the massive violations of
human rights.
Non-monetary reparations will

come in the form of health benefits,
scholarships and livelihood training
for the victims or their qualified
kin, as well as inclusion in the roll of
human rights victims.
Teaching these will make up a

form of collective reparation for the
human rights victims and the entire
country, Parong says.
There is a compelling need for

the truth to be heard, which is
why the HRVCB is also working to
have history books and the school
curriculum communicate the truth
about martial law.
Sharon says monetary reparation

means little to her. But it is the
symbolic value of being recognized
that is significant. Because it
acknowledges what happened to me,
and it serves as recognition of the
sacrifices of a generation of Filipinos
who opposed authoritarian rule.
Parong outlines three things that

future generations need to know
regarding what martial law was
[some details of sharons story were

changed to shield her identity.]
The HRVCB now has to evaluate

the documents it has received. The
names of those whose cases are
verified will be placed on a roll of
human rights victims in recognition
of their sacrifices. The victims will
also qualify for reparations, both
monetary and non-monetary.
The meaning of reparations
Monetary reparations will come from

a PhP10-billion reparations fund in
accordance with R.A. 10368. The fund,
explains Dr. Parong, comes from part
of Marcos ill-gotten wealth that the
4
R.A. 10368 provides for reparations and recognition of victims of human

rights violations during the Marcos regime [and] documentation of said
violations. (HRVCB photo)
September 2015
Women torture survivors speak out

Martial law promised peace and order and economic
development. But behind concrete walls, hidden from the
eyes of the public, lay a different story.
By the time Ferdinand E. Marcos declared martial
law at 7:15 PM on September 23, 1972, he had already
begun his full assault on the countrys democratic
institutions. The military padlocked Congress and shut
down media establishments. Many were incarcerated,
tortured or killed.
From Day One, the implementers of martial law knew
exactly how to dish out the most horrible forms of cruelty
on the people. By Amnesty Internationals estimate, 70,000
were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, while 3,240 were
killed during martial law. [Batas Militar documentary.
1999.] The Primer on Desaparecidos [2012] placed the
number of the disappeared at 759.
Numbers tell us only part of the appalling history. We need
to hear the accounts of the women and men who had to
endure the most inhuman forms of torture.
The first reported death that occurred under detention
during martial law was that of Liliosa Hilao. She arrived
home to find drunken members of the Constabulary
Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) in her house. Three days
after her arrest, on April 7, 1973, the CANU said that
Hilao, 23, killed herself by drinking muriatic acid. But
an autopsy showed that she was tortured and her
internal organs were soaked in acid. [Bantayog ng
mga Bayani. 1995.]
Women can and were subjected to the same forms of
torture as men. Water cure. Electrocution. Solitary
confinement. Sleep deprivation. Extended periods of
interrogation. Suffocation. Beatings. In addition, a number
of women were subjected to atrocities that were genderspecific: rape, reproductive violence, domestic servitude,
psychological threats.
Both Hilda Narciso and Etta Rosales were subject to sexual
violence by their captors. Former Commission on Human
Rights (CHR) chair Rosales was arrested in Paraaque on
August 1, 1976. She was detained for a month but it was
during her first day in custody when her captors beat and
sexually abused her, she says in an interview.
September 2015
In a safe house in Pasig, they [her captors]

molested me. At one point, someone poured hot
candle wax on her skin. Rosales was also beaten,
strangled and electrocuted.
Hilda Narciso also suffered from brutal treatment
at the hands of the military. On March 24, 1983,
arresting officers who were shirtless and had their
ammunition strung across their shoulders, like
Rambo, came to take her. Narciso was blindfolded
and made to get into a car where two men started
touching her body, while another man interrogated
her. Men fondled her at a safe house until someone
came and ordered them to leave. I assumed he was
the head of the team He raped me. Afterwards he
took me outside where more people began fondling
me. Will you just shoot me? I told them.
These are just some of the stories of women who
experienced first-hand the inhumanity of martial
law. Many who survived have their own stories of
healing or perseverance.
But torture and other forms of human rights abuses
do more than damage individuals. They wreak havoc
on families and society. Even the state itself is
damaged, because human rights abuses corrupt the
institutions party to the atrocities. What happens
when the police and armed forces are trained to
believe in the primacy of violence over civilian rule?
Human Rights Commissioner Leah Armamento
laments that martial law created a culture... where
human rights violations were SOP. There are people
in the security sector who still violate human rights, it
has become part of the culture, where abuses are thought
to be normal.
There are aggressive and continuing attempts to
erase from our collective memory the atrocities
that happened during martial law. Nevertheless, there are
government entities and non-government organizations
that are working to make sure the abuses of the past are
not repeated. What is important now is that we hear these
and other individual stories and make sure that we, as a
people, never forget the national nightmare that
was martial law. Kris L. Lacaba
A painful memory
By chit asis
I volunteered to assist the Human Rights Claims Board

regional desk in Caraga (covering the provinces of
Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Sur and
Surigao del Norte) in interviewing the human rights
victims who applied for reparations under R.A.10380.
The Board was created in February 2014 and the intake
process followed in May to November (with a months
extension in April-May 2015). In Caraga, no less than
2,800 applications were processed.
The intake process entails submission of application
forms with affidavits or accounts (salaysay) of the
incidents they experienced. Some have collaborating
witnesses. The process follows Civil Code provisions
with regard to succession and claims by relatives such as
spouses, children and others.
The intake process started at the capitol grounds in
Butuan City and moved, after three days, to the Caraga
regional office of the Commission of Human Rights.
Hundreds of applicants came from all four Caraga
provinces as well as from Bukidnon and the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao. Coming from all walks
of life, they queued up under the sun and waited long
hours to be processed. Some had to stay for days. Their
respective provincial governors helped provide food and
shelter, and some mayors helped their constituents with
transportation, food and accommodations. But majority
of the claimants came on their own.
Volunteers from the People Power Volunteers for
Reforms [PPVR]-Caraga checked the application forms
to ensure they were properly accomplished, and
verified the attached documents such as birth
certificates, death certificates, affidavits, release
orders and others. Personal interviews were then
taken by paralegal volunteers.
The interviews brought back painful memories not
only to the victims, but also to me as an interviewer.
As I faced the applicants, I could visualize their
accounts of hamletting, strafing, burning of houses, body
searches and acts of lasciviousness at checkpoints, illegal
detention and torture, rape and killings.
I have been part of several fact-finding missions in

Caraga to investigate killings and exhumation of
bodies of murdered farmers and church workers. The
interviews with human rights claimants transported me
back to that painful era. I wondered how these people
survived, what life-changing adjustments they had to
make. How did the trauma impact on their personal
relations? How did they cope?
One night, I could not sleep. I was so moved by the story
of two sisters, Evelyn and Liza [not their real names]
from Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, both victims of rape.
During the interview, Evelyn began her account saying
her family had a small sari-sari (dry goods) store in
the barangay that she, then 18, and her sister Liza, 16,
tended. One day in 1983, a group of five soldiers from
the AFPs 23rd Infantry Battalion, came to the store, and
ordered liquor. When they started to get tipsy from
the drinks they had ordered, Evelyn saw that they kept
looking around to ascertain whether there were others
in the store.
Scared, Evelyn told her sister to hide, but this did not
escape the soldiers who caught Liza and brought her to
the cornfield where they took turns raping her. Two of
the soldiers then cornered Evelyn and raped her inside
the store. The sisters tried to fight back, but they were
threatened with their life if they resisted.
As Evelyn recounted her story, she was shivering and
in tears. I stood up and held her in my arms, saying Its
all right, you are safe. She said, Sorry, Maam, but
narrating the experience brings back fear because they
might come back.
Its been 22 years, and Evelyns fear is still there. I
wonder if reparations can truly and fully heal the pain.
Truly a painful memory, of Evelyn and Liza, and now mine.
chit asis is chairperson of the People Power Volunteers for
reforms [PPVr] in caraga, a human rights advocate and
activist, an independent political consultant, and author of
citizens Primer against corruption.
September 2015
Peace takes root in bangsamoro

By Joshua PiLe and Mc Jazer MaLonda
MARCH 30 was supposed to be a day of celebration.

Norombai Utto was graduating as class valedictorian
of Hadji Salik National High School in Tukanalipao,
Mamasapano in Maguindanao.
Instead, Norombai wept.

ito po ang aking pakiusap: itigil na po ninyo ang giyera,
(This is my appeal: please stop the war) she appealed,
wiping the tears off her cheek as she spoke. The
graduation rites at her school were nearly cancelled due
to the security situation.
For almost a month, there had been continuous fighting
between the military and the Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters (BIFF) around Mamasapano and
neighboring towns. Instead of loud music filling the
barangays in celebration of the eve of graduation day,
gunfire echoed through the night after a firefight broke
out between the two groups.
The Philippine Armys 6th Infantry Division suspended
military operations against the BIFF on that day, to allow
schools in affected towns to hold their commencement
ceremonies. But a mere suspension of hostilities was not
enough for someone who has known war even as a child.
sa totoo lang po, naiisip ko na sana araw-araw na lang ang
graduation, dahil walang military operation (In truth, I
wish everyday was graduation day because there is no
military operation). Norombai said between sobs. She
said that her dream of peace was again threatened by the
tragedy in Mamasapano in January after the flames of war
were fanned and the peace they had built over the years
was replaced by mourning, confusion and grief.
A durable process
The Mamasapano tragedy, which claimed nearly 70 lives

on all sides, came closest to derailing the Bangsamoro
peace process. Its aftermath saw the suspension of
congressional deliberations on the Bangsamoro Basic Law
September 2015
War is not an option. President Aquino with MILF

Chair Ebrahim Murad examines decommissioned MILF
firearms.
(BBL), an alarming increase in anti-Muslim bigotry and

prejudice, and even calls for all-out war.
Fortunately, the tragedy, which was effectively a
breakdown of the ceasefire between the government and
the MILF, did not escalate into full-blown armed conflict
because of the built-in safeguards in the Bangsamoro
peace process which were immediately activated. In time,
congressional deliberations on the BBL resumed, and the
process has continued to move forward.
This was made possible because both parties remained
unwavering in their commitment to the peace process,
the international community and civil society never
hesitated in extending their vital support and assistance,
and because the communities on the ground continue
to make their calls for peace and development in the
Bangsamoro clear and unmistakable.
Among the last five presidentsCorazon Aquino, Fidel
Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Arroyo and Benigno Aquino
IIIit is the younger Aquino who has achieved the most in
terms of resolving the conflict in Mindanao. Under PNoy,
the peace process in Mindanao reached the closest it has
ever come to ending armed conflict in the South.
Delays in Congress
The passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is

the Aquino administrations foundation for peace in
Mindanaois still pending in both chambers of Congress,
with leaders of both the Senate and the House committing
to pass the law before October this year. The House Ad
Hoc Committee on the Bangsamoro led by Cagayan de
Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, having conducted 51 public
hearings and consultations, has approved its own version
of the bill titled Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region (BLBAR) (House Bill 5811), which is now under
deliberation in the plenary.
The Senate Committee on Local Government chaired by
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. submitted its committee report
and its substitute bill, similarly titled Basic Law of the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (Senate Bill 2894), only on
August 10, nearly a year after the draft BBL was transmitted
to Congress. Plenary deliberations in the Senate began two
weeks after with Sen. Marcos himself saying that he cannot
commit to a fixed timeline for the passage of the bill.
The government panel has commended the House Ad
Hoc Committee for retaining substantive provisions
of the original BBL, and Presidential Adviser on the
Peace Process Teresita Quintos Deles has signified the
willingness and readiness of her office to assist the Senate
as it finalizes its version, especially in explaining the
provisions of the proposed law and its importance in
addressing the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people.
President Aquino, in his last State of the Nation Address
in July, called on Congress to make the passage of the BBL
its top priority. He himself is committed to shepherding
the peace process to its successful conclusion, declaring,
What I, as President, can tell you is this: I am personally

investing my time and effort for the BBL.
War is not an option
While the leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front

(MILF) has indicated its reservations regarding the House
and Senate versions of the bill, it has declared: No matter
what happens to the BBL, the pursuit of peace will remain
the menu in settling the armed conflict in Mindanao. War
is not an option to the MILF.
Mohagher Iqbal, chair of the MILF negotiating panel
and the Bangsamoro Transition Commission that drafted
the BBL, noted, This is a continuing process, a continuing
dialogue; and hopefully at the end of the day, we would
be able to settle all issues that would require further
discussion, that would require further action on the part
of the parties especially the Congress of the Philippines.
Normalization process initiated
While Congress deliberates ever so slowly on the

creation of the Bangsamoro autonomous region, the
implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on
the Bangsamoro, the historic peace deal between the
government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front which
served as basis of the BBL, has moved forward. For one,
the normalization process has started.
Normalization has three components security, socioeconomic development and transitional justice and
reconciliation that are crucial in creating a peaceful,
productive Bangsamoro. Last June, in Sultan Kudarat, the
security component of the normalization process kicked
off with the initial turnover of 75 weapons (comprised of
Decommissioned Bangsamoro forces
September 2015
51 high-powered and 24 crew-serve weapons) of the MILF

and decommissioning of 145 members of its Bangsamoro
Islamic Armed Forces.
is expected to grow by 12.8 percent next year. These

calculations are based on increased business activities as
projected in the Bangsamoro Development Plan (BDP).
The Sajahatra Bangsamoro program, which was launched

in February 2013 to jumpstart the dividends of the peace
process after the signing of the Framework Agreement on
the Bangsamoro, continues to roll out its health, education
and livelihood programs in Bangsamoro communities. The
program, which was extended to November 2015, is jointly
implemented by both the government and the MILF.
The BDP, completed by the leadership and members of the

MILF and the Bangsamoro Development Agency, gathers
the collective hopes and aspirations of the Bangsamoro
people, government leaders, partners in the business
and private sectors and civil society organizations, into
a concrete plan. A vision of the Bangsamoro, by the
Bangsamoro, for the Bangsamoro, it is a six-year mediumand long-term vision and strategy for the recovery
and development of the areas covered by the proposed
Bangsamoro region.
Last June, government troopers and MILF members

set aside their firearms and joined hands in a series
of Brigada Eskwela activities held in Bangsamoro
communities inside MILF camps in North Cotabato,
Maguindanao, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur. They
repaired school buildings and provided medical and
dental services to hundreds of school children.
Meanwhile, the ceasefire continues to hold under the
watchful eyes of the Joint Coordinating Committee on the
Cessation of Hostilities, the mechanism tasked to monitor
the implementation of the GPH-MILF Agreement on
the Cessation of Hostilities and resolve complaints over
ceasefire violations, and the International Monitoring
Team which is tasked to monitor the ceasefire,
humanitarian, rehabilitation and socio-economic
agreements between the two parties.
Pledges of support
Meanwhile, international support for the Bangsamoro

peace process has continued in terms of public statements
and pledges of investments and aid, as well as accolades
and awards for the members of the peace panels and the
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
Looking at the larger picture, despite the lag in the
legislative component of the comprehensive process,
the studies and pledges by the international and local
economic and business sectors ensure a bright future
for the promised Bangsamoro. However, they are still
dependent on the passage of a workable BBL.
Last June, business leaders pledged to invest a total of
$366 million or PhP16.3 billion in Mindanao once the
Bangsamoro law is passed. This will generate around
23,000 jobs for direct employment in the region.
National Economic Development Authority Regional
Office 11 Director Maria Lourdes D. Lim, in her first
quarter report, said that if the BBL is passed and
implemented within 2015, the Bangsamoro economy
September 2015
On the transition, the Terms of Reference for the

Coordination Team for the Transition (CT4T) signed in
November 2014, serves as the primary mechanism to
ensure a smooth transition from the present ARMM to
the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, in between the
plebiscite and the 2016 elections.
Keeping a promise
Despite the delays in the passage of the BBL, the peace

process forges stubbornly on in the Bangsamoro. The
work continues despite the odds and the time pressure,
because, as Secretary Deles said in a recent inter-religious
and intercultural dialogue in Cotabato, we are now at a
crossroads; and at this crossroads, we have one path that
offers the way to the land of promise that Mindanao was
meant to bethe one that we have always dreamed of
while the other leads to the Mindanao that could very well
become a living nightmare for our children.
As Secretary Deles cautioned, this is a rather simplistic
image, a starkly black-and-white contrast. But at this
stage in the peace process, it is all the more necessary to
consider such a contrast, so that we might see more clearly
the choices that are before us, and their consequences,
that are before our nation. And, she pointed out, To
imagine the future of Mindanao, one must also imagine the
future of the Bangsamoro, which lies at the heart not just
of Mindanaos future, but that of the entire country.
The work continues, because however difficult the road
ahead might be, Norombai and countless other children
and their sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers, should
not have to weep because of war and conflict. And this,
distilled to its simplest sense, is what the entirety of the
Bangsamoro peace process aims for: that, someday, no
one, least of all children like Norombai, will have to shed a
single tear for war any more.
CoVer storY
PAmANA: A legacy of peace,

By Jennifer L. santos
sa among lugar daghan mi nagtu-o nga wala na gayod pag-asa makab-ot pa ang kalambu-an ug kalinaw
(in our community, many of us believed that there was no chance to attain peace and development).
- sarah, a community volunteer in tingintingin, Kauswagan in Lanao del norte
conflict and threats to human security often
lead to the displacement of communities in far-flung

areas. Women, children, the elderly and indigenous
groups are among the more disadvantaged when
situations of violence arise. Conflict tends to uproot
communities, families and individuals from the security
of their homes to lives of uncertainty and insecurity.
Inaccessibility to basic social services and lack of economic
and livelihood opportunities in areas affected by conflict
further result in increased poverty, low literacy and
distrust of government and of their own community.
These are among the concerns experienced by
communities in remote areas which are either unserved
or underserved by government, and whose human
security are threatened by the presence of armed groups
and further exacerbated by situations of armed conflict.
When President Benigno S. Aquino III took office in 2010,
he made the pursuit of peace one of the priorities of his
government. This is reflected in the updated Philippine
Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 which highlights two
tracks in pursuing just and lasting peace.
Track 1 seeks to bring all internal armed conflict to a
permanent and peaceful closure through negotiated
political settlement. Peace negotiations have been
pursued by government with the Moro Islamic
10
Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro National Liberation

Front (MNLF), the Communist Party of the Philippines/
New Peoples Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/
NPA/NDF) and its two breakaway groups, the Cordillera
Bodong Administration - Cordillera Peoples Liberation
Army (CBA-CPLA) and the Rebolusyonaryong Partidong
Manggagawa-Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/
Alex Boncayao Brigade-Tabara Paduano Group (RPM-P/
RPA/ABB-TPG).
Track 2, the complementary track, is pursued primarily
through PAMANA, which is aimed at addressing the
root causes and impacts of internal armed conflicts
and other issues that affect the peace process through
development, justice and improved governance.
enter PaMana
PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA) was

thus launched in 2010, as the national governments
peacebuilding framework and program for areas affected
by and vulnerable to internal armed conflict. In the
past five years, it has brought development and social
protection services to isolated, hard-to-reach conflictaffected communities in the countrys hinterlands.
Seven PAMANA Zones have been identified to
complement peace processes and conflict lines where
the different insurgent groups operate: the Cordillera
September 2015
Administrative Region (CAR), Bicol Mindoro

Quezon, Samar Island, Negros Panay, the Compostela
Valley-Davao-Caraga Corridor, Central Mindanao and
Zamboanga-Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi (ZamBaSulTa).
Currently, PAMANA is being implemented in four highly
urbanized cities and 290 hard-to-reach, conflict-affected
municipalities in 45 provinces across 14 regions.
A Joint Needs Assessment for Reconstruction and

Development of CAAs in Mindanao conducted in 2005
showed that government could not proceed doing
business as usual in areas affected by conflict as this
would only exacerbate tensions that had built up in the
communities due to unfulfilled expectations. Flexible
modalities of assistance and delivery of services needed
to be established.
Prior to the Aquino administration, the delivery of

government programs in conflict-affected areas (CAAs)
was no different from those implemented in non-conflict
affected areas. When we came in, there was no program
that was specific to conflict-affected areas. Agencies
were treating the delivery of services to CAAs the same
way as in non-conflict areas, not fully recognizing the
development challenge in programs in CAA. So our
premise was, we needed to do things differently, said
OPAPP Undersecretary Luisito Montalbo.
Montalbo said that the presence of armed groups and

the history of violence or conflict in the community had
to be considered since these areas were still influenced
by ideologically-motivated armed groups. He listed two
major challenges for agencies implementing programs
in communities fractured by armed violence: the
level of social cohesion in the communities and the
communities level of trust (or mistrust) in government
and in other community members.
Areas are classified as conflict-affected based on the

presence of direct violence in the place. Montalbo
explained, If 50% of the barangays in a municipality
are conflict affected, the municipality is considered
conflict-affected.
That dimension of lack of trust is not reflected in how

government projects were implemented, Montalbo said.
Furthermore, anomalous transactions and inefficient
implementation by previous administrations have marred
the image of government performance in these areas.
Areas considered conflict-affected were disadvantaged

and tended to lose out compared to non-conflict areas,
in terms of accessing government programs and services
due to security risks that are prevalent in their area.
Programs implemented in these areas were not distinct,
based on the context and conflict they experienced or
were experiencing.
Synchronized peace and development efforts
Given all these considerations, PAMANA was conceived

to synchronize peace and development efforts and bring
development to target CAAs. This would emphasize
government presence and send the message that it is
resolute in responding to the needs of the community.
School building in Bataraza, Palawan
September 2015
11
The PAMANA framework is based on the World

Development Report on Conflict, Security and
Development (2011) that called for the strengthening
of legitimate institutions and governance to break
cycles of violence.
This framework takes into account the interaction of
stressors that weaken institutions and make communities
vulnerable to conflict. Some of these are: the lack of
security or threats to physical integrity; the absence of
justice such as the disenfranchisement of the rights of the
people in the decision-making processes; and the need
for jobs/development, notably the lack or absence of
access and control over resources necessary for survival.
PAMANA taps and strengthens existing mechanisms
to address issues of conflict, peace and development
in conflict-affected areas. It does not create new
mechanisms but strengthens those that are already in
place, using the convergence approach to connect and
synergize the efforts of government agencies and LGUs
in the delivery of programs and services to CAAs.
PAMANA aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability in
CAAs with the delivery of community infrastructure and
focused social services, improved governance through
partnerships with national and local institutions in
building capacities for governance and enhancing
transparency and accountability mechanisms. It also
empowers communities by strengthening their capacity
to address issues of conflict and peace through activities
that promote social cohesion.
sensitivity in all stages of project implementation.

Project identification is done in consultation with local
governments and regional agencies in investment
programing workshops where interventions are
identified based on shared analysis of the causes of
conflict in the area. Peace and social cohesion principles
are integrated in the process to ensure that inclusion,
participation, transparency and conflict sensitivity are
embedded every step of the way, resulting in improved
social relations in the community. PAMANA also ensures
the participation of women and marginalized groups
in identifying projects and interventions they deem
significant to improve their lives.
PAMANA was initially implemented through a
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between OPAPP and
the LGUs, DSWD, ARMM and DAR. In 2010, when PAMANA
was presented to the Cabinet as an integrative approach
to winning the peace, questions on who would implement
the program, how it would be beneficial to the peace
process, and the connection between infrastructure
projects and peace negotiations were raised.
Montalbo recalled, We were asked operational
questions such as, how would we know that the project
is succeeding, what would the investments produce or
how the construction of roads would help in the peace
negotiations. But despite the challenges in seeking
approval of the Executive and the Cabinet, OPAPP
executives were undeterred. Montalbo said, If the talks
wont happen, how could we win over the community?
The goal was to make communities loyal to legitimate
government institutions by providing development.
Conflict sensitivity
What makes PAMANA different from previous programs

implemented in CAAs is that it incorporates conflict
Networking, which included calling on executives of

different national agencies, was key to generating
support. Among those who took on PAMANA
PAMANA Summary (2011 2015)
2011
2012
2013
2014*
2015
PAMANA
Coverage
12 Regions
35 Provinces
4 Highly
Urbanized Cities
196 Municipalities
184 Barangays
15 Regions
36 Provinces
4 Highly
Urbanized Cities
245 Municipalities
1,489 Barangays
13 Regions
39 Provinces
1 Highly
Urbanized City
315 Municipalities
4,897 Barangays
11 Regions
33 Provinces
2 Highly
Urbanized Cities
274 Municipalities
3,087 Barangays
14 Regions
45 Provinces
4 Highly
Urbanized Cities
290 Municipalities
3,812 Barangays
PAMANA
Program Fund
Php
2,387,000,752.54
PhP
2,474,955,625.00
PhP
4,955,708,000.00
PhP
7,187,224,000.00
PhP
7,248,572,400.00
*some projects of nciP have no exact list of names of municipalities and cannot be found in the PsGc especially those projects in 2014 that are
not counted in the summary.
12
September 2015
Pillar 1: social Protection

Employment of former combatants
Scholarships
Through Pillar 1 initiatives, the lives of former combatants

have improved.
Social protection also includes scholarships for the

next-of-kin of former combatants. Norma Cortel, one
of the profiled CPLA members in Apayao, said that the
scholarships have allowed many young people to finish
their schooling. Her daughter, a nurse, now has a
permanent position at the Conner District Hospital.
Back then, we were farmers and members of CPLA and we

really struggled. Now, as part of the Bantay Gubat patrol, we
have a sense that we are contributing, and to a government
program at that, said a former CPLA combatant who is
now employed by the Forest Guard program of the DENR
implemented under Pillar 1.
ngayon nakakatulong na siya sa tuition ng kapatid nya (Now

she can help pay the tuition of her sibling).
PAmANA-Philhealth comes to Parang
PAMANA-PhilHealth beneficiaries in Parang, Maguindanao
Pillar 1 also supports the social protection programs for former combatants by providing them with health insurance
through PhilHealth. So far, 2,996 former combatants have been enrolled in PhilHealth in 2014 and 3,740 in 2015.
Myra Sanday Pendat, 31, a PhilHealth beneficiary under the PAMANA project in Parang, Maguindanao gave birth to
Hadzer, her third child. It was her first time to give birth in a hospital. A village midwife delivered Myras two older
children at home. Malaking tulong po sa amin ang PaMana kasi wala kami binayad sa ospital (PAMANA was such a big help
because we didnt have to pay anything at the hospital), she said.
Meanwhile, 35-year-old Samsia Macasalong Macapeges mourns the loss of her child due to miscarriage. Despite her
grief, Samsia said she is still blessed because of the free hospital services extended by PhilHealth.
Hayam Dris Jao, a market vendor and mother of two, underwent surgery to remove a myoma. She would never have
received treatment if not for the program. Hayam was also given medicines for her full recovery. But her journey is yet
to be concluded. Doctors found smaller masses that still need to be treated. salamat sa PhilHealth, makapagpagaling pa
ako ng tuloy-tuloy (Thanks to PhilHealth I can continue to get well), she said. Text and photo by Jennifer Ambanta
September 2015
13
implementation were DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman,

DAR Secretary Gil de los Reyes and the late DILG
Secretary Jesse Robredo.
Anchored on the Philippine Development Plan (20112016), PAMANA became not just a framework but an
actual program with funding allotted for implementation.
Initially, in 2010, as many as 5,000 barangays out of the
total 40,000 barangays in the country were placed under
PAMANA. In 2011, a total of PhP1.7B was allocated for the
implementation of PAMANA in identified CAAs.
A shift in implementation occurred in 2012 when OPAPP
was tasked to perform oversight functions over PAMANA,
citing Executive Order No. 3, s. 2001, which mandates
OPAPP to coordinate and integrate all existing peace
efforts such as specific programs and structures designed
for the implementation of a comprehensive peace process.
Following this shift, PAMANA was mainstreamed in the
line agencies that carried out the identified interventions
along with the corresponding funding requirement.
Currently, PAMANA is implemented by DSWD, DAR, DA,
DENR, BFAR, DOE, NEA, NIA, DILG, NCIP and the ARMM.
Three pillars of PAMANA
PAMANA is anchored on three strategic complementary

pillars.
Pillar 1 lays the foundations for peace through policy
reform and development at the national level. These
include policy and program interventions that address
governance issues, threats to identity and marginalization
issues, security guarantees, and transitional support
especially for internally displaced persons and the
reintegration of former rebels. This pillar is pursued
through programs implemented by the CHED, DILG, DENR,
PhilHealth and the National Commission on Indigenous

Peoples (NCIP). An intervention under this pillar includes
capacity building by DILG for LGUs in mainstreaming
conflict-sensitivity, child-friendliness and genderresponsiveness in local development planning processes.
Pillar 2 aims to build resilient communities through
micro-level interventions that promote the convergent
delivery of goods and services to households and
communities. A distinct component of this pillar is the
PAMANA Peace and Development Fund, a block grant
of PhP300,000 given annually to identified conflictaffected barangays for a period of three years for their
community driven projects. Pillar 2 projects follow
the steps and mechanisms of Community-Driven
Development (CDD) programs such as community
consultations, sub-project identification, prioritization
and approval, implementation, and community
monitoring and evaluation. Pillar 2 interventions
are implemented by DSWD the DA-DAR (PAMANA in
agrarian reform areas) and DSWD-ARMM.
Pillar 3 promotes sub-regional economic development
through meso-level interventions that address subregional development challenges and contribute to
high-impact connectivity and value chain development,
infrastructure support and economic integration, and
employment generation. Pillar 3 interventions are
implemented by the DA, DENR, DILG, DOE, DPWH, NEA,
NIA, DAF-ARMM, DILG-ARMM and DENR-ARMM.
Transparency and accountability
Consistent with governments effort at transparent

and accountable governance, PAMANA instituted
a Transparency and Accountability Mechanism
with five components: (1) PAMANA Feedback and
Bailey Bridge links communities in Sibagat, Agusan del Sur.
14
September 2015
Pillar 2: Community-Driven Development

Livelihood creation
In Kauswagan, prior to the implementation of a coco

coir production project and the construction of a farmto-market road by the Department of Agriculture, the
residents, especially the women, were unproductive. The
coco coir project and the farm-to-market road changed
the lives of the people, especially the women. Initiated by
PAMANA-DA and the Bagumbayan Coco Coir Association,
it created work for the women resulting in stable incomes
for the community. Resident Evangeline Orio said, It is a
great help to us to be able to buy food, and my husband is
glad that I can help provide for our daily needs.
From Department of Agriculture
Kahinumdom pa jud ko sa una atong wala pa ang proyekto,

mubangon ko ug alas-kwatro sa kaadlawon para magpila
mangabo ug tubig unya makauli ko sa among balay alas-kwatro
na pud sa hapon (Before the water project was put up in
the village, I had to wake up as early as 4 oclock in the
morning to queue for water and I went home as late as
4 oclock in the afternoon), says Desideria Rarasonabe,
54, of Villa Verde in Tagbina, Surigao del Sur. The water
situation in their barangay led to conflict and mutual
blaming among residents. The installation of a water
system in the community solved their problem. It also
developed the mediating skills of the women who helped
promote understanding and unity in the community.
From Department of Social Welfare and Development
Social cohesion
Protection of women and children
Community infrastructure projects, such as health

and education facilities, have increased community
participation and volunteerism. In Barangay Sta. Juana
in Tagbina, Surigao del Sur, the construction of a multipurpose building encouraged the people, especially the
women and elders, to engage in community building.
Empowered and motivated, the women helped build the
project despite long hours without compensation.
The construction of a concrete pathway in Barangay
Sulo in Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay, strengthened the
bayanihan spirit among the villagers despite their initial
resistance to the project. Leticia Hernain, a resident of Sulo
said, My husband is also a volunteer, even my children
helped out in the manual hauling of materials. We just
made sure that everyone in the family understood that
what we were doing was for the good of everyone.
For Maritess Tumacas, Barangay Sulo secretary, the
construction of the pathway bridged the gap in their
community and increased the communitys trust in
government. Aside from getting a better road that
improved access to the school, the project also serves as
a link among Christians, Muslims and Subanen. It made
everyone feel that they were part of the community.
They now feel they are part of the progress. They gave
back their trust to government; no more rejection,
regardless of religion, tribe or culture.
September 2015
PaMana builds safe roads for mothers and children.
Mothers in General Luna, Lope de Vega town in Samar like

Warlita Agte, 72, were anxious about their security and that
of their children returning home from school. The PAMANA
electrification project in the area lessened their anxiety and
their sense of security increased because the street lights
made it easier for barangay tanods to patrol the area.
Increased security was also evident in Sta. Emilia, Veruela,
Agusan del Sur after the electrification and water systems
were implemented as part of KC-PAMANA.naramdaman
namin ang gobyerno sa tulong ng Kc-PaMana. Maaari na
kami humindi sa pangangalap at propaganda ng nPa laban sa
gobyerno (We feel the governments presence with the help
of KC-PAMANA. Now we can now say no to the NPAs fundraising and anti-government propaganda), said a resident.
From Department of Social Welfare and Development
15
bentangans quest for potable water

The Manobos of Bentangan in Carmen, North Cotabato
struggled for clean and safe water for as long as they
could remember. Their water source was a spring
seven kilometers from their village, which could only
be accessed by foot.
Legania Lantong, 34, says that water scarcity gave
her a headache because she had to fetch water for
her family every day. The spring source is too far
from the village. We had to climb hills carrying our
containers. We didnt have vegetable gardens because
we couldnt water them. And we seldom took a bath.
Laundry and bath day in Bentangan (DAR photo)
This situation was alleviated in 1996 when the LGU

installed a water system in the area. However after years of use, the system was in need of rehabilitation. In 2013,
the Department of Agrarian Reform prioritized rehabilitation of the potable water system. The project provided 600
meters of 1.5 standard dimensional ratio (SDR) plastic pipes, 545 meters of 2.5 SDR plastic pipes, ropes, tie wires, nails,
and other materials.
Legania observed positive changes in the community, noting the impact of running water on the peoples hygiene.
We now manage to take a bath several times a day because of the overflowing water supply, Legania smiles.
From the PAMANA story of the Department of Agrarian Reform
Response System, which provides citizens venues

and opportunities to lodge their feedback regarding
peacebuilding interventions; (2) Third Party Monitoring
where civil society organizations are tapped as
third party or independent monitors in PAMANA
implementation; (3) Project and Community Billboards
that provide communities information regarding
projects; (4) Web Posting where project status and fund
reports are published online; and, (5) Performance-based
Fund Releases or the process of complying with regular
government and accounting rules and regulations
regarding project implementation.
Prospects for PAMANA
Pamana in Filipino language means legacy which is

defined as anything handed down from the past. As
a legacy of the Aquino administration, PAMANA has
shown how government can work with the most remote,
poorest and most vulnerable communities to bring
jobs and justice, food and freedom to the least of our
countrymen and women. The lessons it has accumulated
in the past five years are invaluable to the continued
implementation of PAMANA in the grassroots.
16
PAMANA is looking at increasing the relevance

of interventions specific to the different conflicts
by improving connectivity with the construction
of roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and
providing basic services with emphasis on water,
electricity, and education in conflict-affected areas.
It is also building broad-based support for the peace
process by engaging with CSOs beyond their present
role of third party monitor.
PAMANAs unique conflict-sensitive and
peace-promoting approach is currently being
mainstreamed into the national and local
government budgeting and planning system to
ensure that its inclusive, participatory and socially
cohesive processes are integrated in all projects
in CAAs.
Five years into PAMANA, governments peace and
development efforts have shown how targeted,
dedicated and funded programs give hope of a better
life to people who live with conflict. The next step
has to be to end the conflicts and bring normalcy and
prosperity to peoples lives.
September 2015
Pillar 3: sub-regional Projects

Road construction
The construction of a five-kilometer coastal road of

Bomba-Poloyagan-Pantad-Rebokon in the municipality
of Dumalinao and Pagadian City has likewise contributed
to the security in the nearby communities. Maximo
Generale, Punong Barangay (village chief) of Bomba in
Pagadian City, said, At first people were skeptical.
Formerly, this area was risky and dangerous because of
the presence of smugglers and rebels. When the road was
opened, we became confident and secure since the police
authorities can now enter the area. We are very glad that
since the road has been concreted, there are now patrols
at night and they even reach the end part of the area.
PAMANA has also made travel for women in CAAs more

convenient and their way of life easier. Before the
implementation of the (road) project, we experienced
difficulty during heavy rains. Now that the project has been
implemented and the farm-to-market road in Jamiguitan
has been concreted, we are enjoying easier market access
and reduced travel time using habal-habal, says Julita
Gaban, a resident of Jamiguitan, Nasipit in Agusan del
Norte. Archel Benitez, president of the Womens Association
in the area, said that the project has also benefited students
going and coming home from school, increased the
communitys livelihood incomes, and provided safe and
easy access for the residents to market their products.
From Department of Interior and Local Government
in silvino lubos, a road is not just a road

To many people, a road may just be a road. But to the residents of Silvino Lubos, a
fourth-class municipality in Northern Samar, a road brings them an opportunity
to sell their produce and for their children to go to school and support their
families. The added bonus is it inspires with them a renewed trust in government.
Eighty-year old Lorenzo Anterio said, napakahirap ng hanapbuhay. napakasipag
ng mga tao pero walang kalsada. May produkto at masipag ang mga tao pero walang
transportasyon (It was so difficult to make a living. We had produce and the people
were industrious, but we had no roads, no means of transportation).
Lolo Lorenzo Anterio
But since the construction of Barangay Cagpanit-an vis San Jose, Silvino Lubos
Road and the concreting of a section of the Mondragon-Silvino Lubos road
network by the Provincial Government of Northern Samar, made possible by
PAMANA Pillar 3, things have changed in Silvino Lubos.
Ortiz said that now the traders come over to buy their produce and farmers are able to bargain for better prices. The cost
of transportation has decreased, resulting in savings which the women use for their everyday needs. According to Adelaida
Larito, in the past, a trip on the habal-habal (motorized tricycle) would cost PhP600. Copra and abaca sellers no longer have
to risk crossing the river. And even if they still have to take the habal-habal, it is a safer ride on paved roads.
The children too are able to access the schools in the bigger municipalities high school in Mondragron and college at the
University of Eastern Philippines in Catarman. Mas marami nang nakakapagtapos (There are more children who are able to
finish their studies), said Lolita Raga.
The road project has brought not only increased access and economic development to Silvino Lubos, it has renewed the
faith and trust of the people in government.
Lolo Anterio related that all his life, he dreamed of walking on a concrete road. He said, First time kong makakita na
may pruweba ang gobyerno; first time kong makakita na nagkatotoo na may tulong sa tao (This is the first time I see proof that
government is helping the people).
September 2015
17
in Cordillera
Women grow circles of peace

By shei datinGuinoo
Photos by caroL daLLiGue
Women of the cordillera have a unique approach to peacekeeping in their communities,

taking into account gender and cultural considerations.
Cordillera women share a cultural dance with the crowd during the Peace Encounter that started the series of
Women Conversations in the region.
the conversations are
vibrant and the places warm with

enthusiasm. Such are the scenes from
Women Peace Encounters in the
Cordilleraalways full of dancing,
singing and earnest laughter. The
participants, being Cordillera women,
conduct these gatherings their own
way makibiningay ti mapaspasamak
ken makikinkinatawa (sharing and
laughing with each other).
Held throughout the Cordillera
on five separate occasions from
September 2014 to April 2015, the
gatherings were mostly lively and
spontaneous. The convenor, the
Office of the Presidential Adviser on
18
the Peace Process (OPAPP), intended

these peace encounters (or Women
Conversations) to be hinged on
life ways and cultures distinct to
them. The encounters were meant to
provide a safe space where they can
exchange narratives on their peace
journey and their cultural roles and
significance as women.
Its really giving the women a
chance to come together to talk, said
Dr. Angelita Padilla, the facilitator of
these occasions.
According to Dr. Padilla, one of the
participants in Bontoc said that the
gathering gave them a venue to share
experiences on substantial matters,

such as their role in keeping the
peace in their communities.
Beginnings
The Women Peace Encounters

trace their inspiration to an
international conference on women
attended by Mayor Edna C. Tabanda
of La Trinidad, Benguet, where
indigenous women from Asia, Africa,
Latin America and other parts of the
world were gathered. The mayors
participation inspired her to hold
a similar conference locally where
women from the grassroots could
come together and converse with
September 2015
one another on who they are in

their communities and their
efforts for peace.
As Mayor Tabanda discussed this
experience with Director Marj
Ibaez of OPAPPs Closure
Agreement Secretariat, they drew
up a plan for a similar event in the
Cordillera that would be in line with
the goals of the Localization of the
National Action Plan on Women,
Peace and Security (LNAP-WPS),
and help push the agenda for peace
in the participants localities.
Several similar initiatives were
initiated by OPAPP in 2012 and
2013 along with the peace process
with the Cordillera Bodong
Administration (CBA) Cordillera
Peoples Liberation Army (CPLA)
and PAMANA (Payapa at
Masaganang Pamayanan), the
complementary peace track. But
there remained a gap in the way
womens roles were recognized or
mainstreamed in these processes.
In September 30, 2014, the event
Mountain Women & Their
Narratives: Growing Circles of
Peace and Cultural Encounter was
held, hosted by the Municipality
of La Trinidad and supported by
the United Nations Development
Programs Strengthening the
National Peace Infrastructure
(UNDP-SNPI) and the LNAP-WPS
team. The event also became part
of the National Peace Consciousness
Month celebration in the Cordillera.
Other similar gatherings and
conversations have been held since
then. That one spark of inspiration
has now grown into a series of
Women Peace Encounters that
have not only strengthened the bond
of women regionally and locally, but
is also seen to have a major role in
September 2015
sustaining the mechanism for peace

beyond the implementation of the
2011 Closure Agreement between the
government and the CBA-CPLA.
Role of women
OPAPP Undersecretary Atty. Maria

Cleofe Gettie C. Sandoval, during her
talk at one of these gatherings in La
Trinidad, underscored that enduring
peace is possible through the active
and meaningful participation of
women in preventing conflict
and building peace. This, she said,
is recognized by United Nations
Security Council Resolution (UNSCR)
1325, and the Philippine National
Action Plan on Women, Peace and
Security that provides the framework
and plan on how government
policies can be responsive to UNSCR
1325, other UN and international
resolutions, and our own Magna
Carta for Women.
This role is most apparent in the
participation of the multi-awarded
Bontoc Women Peace Brigade in
the Women Peace Encounters held
in Bontoc. The women shared how
every night, they voluntarily go out
at 9 oclock and begin their walk

around town to monitor enforcement
of curfew and help the local police
break up petty bar brawls. Since
2011, these women have been
instrumental in keeping the town
safe and peaceful at night.
Senior citizens who are members
of the Brigade would get comments
from the men and the owners of
the establishments and bars that
they patrolled.
dapat kayong mga lola ang umuwi na,
bakit gising pa kayo, eh, gabing-gabi na.
(You grannies should all go home.
Why are you all still out this late in
the night?)
But the women would hold their
ground, answering the intoxicated
men with gentle and motherly
reminders that they wouldnt
be able to sleep knowing that
somebodys sons and daughters are
still out drinking at the bars and may
be in harms way. The Brigade would
send home the bar customers, even
non-minors, before they got drunk
and rowdy. In most cases, they
would yield and go home, respectful
Ifugao woman with her child explains how her group keeps peace in their
community.
19
of the advice from the women and

elders of the Brigade.
The Brigade would also search the
nooks and crannies of the town
where young people hang out in the
dark, away from the crowd.
To avoid teen pregnancies, say
the womens brigade members
in unison, followed by a burst of
laughter in the room.
In the Benguet conversations,
Judith Maranes shared the stories
of peacekeeping passed on by their
I-Benguet (people from Benguet)
predecessors. According to her, there
was a time when legal court cases
were unheard of between members
of Kalanguya tribe. It was customary
law and the council of elders that
resolved conflicts within the tribe.
She said that the I-Benguet women
are generally known to be shy and to
some extent, reticent traits rooted
in local culture and traditions.
We diligently and quietly work in
our farms and gardens so quiet that
Mt. Province women pray for both women and men to equally contribute to
and share the benefits of a peaceful society.
outsiders would come to trample and

bully us, referring to those instances
when representatives from mining
companies tried to threaten and
violate them and their own lands.
She said that the I-Benguet women
did not resort to guns or retaliate
against these offenders. Instead, they
would say Maka-ammo ni apo diyos
or in Ibaloi Makamtas apo chios (We
leave it up to God).
To Maranes, the evolving approach
to peacekeeping should be sensitive
to such traits and cultural norms.
It is important that women can
talk about and recognize their
realities and are learning how
together they can learn from
experience and other approaches.
These stories and other experiences
that surfaced during the Women
Peace Encounters point to the fact
that womens peace efforts are
instrumental in sustaining peace in
the Cordillera.
Benguet women light candles that

represent peace, love, joy and
hope.
20
The enthusiasm of women here

is very high. ang ganda ng spirit
(There is a pleasant spirit), said

Dr. Padilla.
The women from the Benguet
conversations have expressed
the hope of the Cordillera women
nga awan agsisinnabali ken agiinayattayo (that we never become
strangers and that we will continue
to share the love for one another).
Echoing this is the pronouncement
from the participants of the
Ifugao conversations nu adda
pagkapsotan ti maysa, tulungan koma ti
dadduma, haan da koma baybay-an
(If one has a weakness, may the
others help, may they not neglect).
With the nurturing hands of
these Cordillera women, present
generations have no reason to
doubt that this circle of love and
peace started by their ancestors
shall continue and endure. As
long as Cordillera women recognize
their roles and are informed and
empowered in keeping and
building the peace, they can carry
and pass on the culture of peace
to their communities for generations
to come.
September 2015
halfway homes for rebel returnees
healing the walking wounded

By JurGette honcuLada
Happy Home center for former rebels in Davao oriental
FRoM ITS PEAK oF ARouND
25,000 armed combatants in the mid1980s, the communist insurgency is

now down to only over 4,000 regulars
(AFP-J2). Yet it continues to hold sway
in swathes of territory in Mindanao,
particularly in Davao City, the Davao
provinces and the Caraga region.
What makes people, especially the
youth, join the New Peoples Army?
What makes them leave? And when
they do, is there life after armed
struggle? How do they make the
delicate and difficult transition from
rebel to law-abiding citizen?
This is a story of rebels in Davao who
have decided to lay down their arms,
treading gingerly on two distinct
but related paths as they seek
reintegration in society. One mode
may be called the diaspora, mediated
through the Davao City Child Care
September 2015
and Social Service Office (CSSDO).

Former rebels (FRs) are based in
communities with a support network
of relationships and partnerships
with stakeholders, albeit this is a
work in progress.
The other approach is center-based
under the aegis of the Provincial
Social Welfare and Development
Office (PSWDO) of Davao Oriental.
It also partners with NGAs, the
private sector, academe and other
entities, and, like the first mode,
is slowly but steadily taking root.
Located at the outskirts of Mati City,
it is wistfully called Happy Home
(aka Halfway House).
Both approaches are built around
the Comprehensive Local Integration
Program (CLIP) handled by the
Department of Interior and Local
Government (DILG).
Turmoil in the 70s and 80s
The first narrative begins with

Annabelle Tesorero Lugo, 52, once
a true believer in revolutionary
change as preached by the National
Democratic Front in the 1980s. Lugo
turned around and thus carved a
path for others like her, rebels and
fellow travelers who are done with
the past but uncertain of the future.
Lugo is a Mindanaoan whose
bloodlines merge Ilocano, Kalagan
Muslim and Zamboanga Chavacano.
She grew up with such questions
as Why are others killed? Why is
it dark and we cannot walk around
at night? Why must we read by
flashlight? Why do people rally?
Student activism in Davao City
yielded some answers. Lugo led
student protest actions, was once
21
detained overnight, and took on

the disingenuous pseudonym
Butchoy. Unknown to others,
Butchoy was also hooked on
drugsto sustain her hothouse
work and lifestyle, writing late into
the night and avoiding sleep for fear
of not waking.
In 1985, her father, a barangay
captain, was fatally shot by the
New Peoples Army for his reported
links with the military. Eschewing
revenge, Butchoy followed a new
trajectory and dropped the drug
habit. She took on odd jobs to
support her mother and two sisters
vending food, washing dishes,
doing research and typing. She also
married her best friend.
Butchoy firmly believes that
everything, including her fathers
death, happens for a reason. As
a former drug user, she is able to
relate to drug addicts; as a former
activist, she speaks the language of
erstwhile rebels.
In the next decade and a half,
Butchoy ran a day care center in her
hometown while raising her three
children. Starting as a volunteer
worker, she was a family focal

person at CSSDO. The CSSDO is
headed by Ma. Luisa T. Bermudo.
Butchoys first task was to interview
50 former rebels (FRs) who had
surrendered to the 84th and 69th
Infantry Battalions by 2012. Butchoy
drew up a composite profile of her
wards: 90% male, 60% lumad, 56%
single (and the rest single living-in
or married/married-separated) 77%
farmers, and 54% who finished grade
school. A second batch of 46 whose
papers are currently being processed
has nearly 80% male, 67% farmers,
and 54% lumad.
Why they joined, why they left
The answers to the question why

they joined the armed struggle
were, surprisingly, more personal
than political: poverty, personal
conflict, trouble at home/estranged
parents, revenge for a cousins
death, the desire to hold a firearm,
promise of pay, avoiding arrest.
Why they decided to leave may
be summed up in the four Ks:
kagutom, kamingaw, kakapoy,
kahadlok (hunger, loneliness,
fatigue, fear).
As one returnee poignantly put it,

If I didnt leave, when would I have
peace in my life which was full of fear
and conflict? Another FR asked,
Should I wait until I die? In my years
inside the movement, the struggle
and fighting was endless. And I was
fighting fellow Filipinos. A logistics
officer decided to leave the NPA when
his wife and son said they would join
him so they could be a family. He
asked, What will be my childs future,
a fugitive, forever on the run?
Many FRs do not regret joining
the movement because they
learned something but there
was hunger, weariness, fear. And
recognizing the possibility of
ambiguity, Butchoy counseled them
to bury everything but keep only
the good about the past.
In the course of her interviews,
Butchoy asked herself, If we
cannot find a way to re-integrate
FRs into the community, where
can they go? Who will help them?
They might return to the armed
struggle and/or underground
work. The Comprehensive Local
Integration Program (CLIP) crafted by
government expressly for FRs, was the
logical response.
Not an 8-to-5 job
(L to R) Ma. Luisa T. Bermudo, Head II, CSSDo, Annabelle T. Lugo, focal

person for PWDs and CLIP; and Marilyn D. Agunia, CSSDo division chief.
22
A reintegration plan slowly took

shape with Butchoy working closely
with Col. Edgar Nigos of the 84th IB
and other commanders. The initial
activity was followed by training in
basic business management based
on a total family approach. Since
most FRs have reached only the grade
school level, their families are part
of the training as support. The FRs
would be turned over to communities
represented by social workers and
pastors, friends and family members,
tribal leaders and local officials.
September 2015
(Pastors are more accessible and

acceptable to members of various
sects.) Over 500 came to the one-day
reintegration activity, five times the
anticipated number. FRs received
food packs for pasalubong (takehome) and a medical mission was
also on hand. Host soldiers served
them their meals.
Butchoy told the social workers,
The work (with FRs) is difficult,
scary, exhausting, it is not an 8-to-5
job. As service providers, you must
love not only the work, but also the
FRs. She continued, If we want to
change the FRs, we must first change
ourselves. To the FRs she said, When
government assistance comes, it is
up to you to make it worthwhile.
The decision to change is yours,
government is only there to help.
Marilyn D. Agunia of CSSDOs
social services operations wants to
expand the concept of total family
approach beyond mere capital
assistance to include other family
needs such as education and skills
training. Hence she believes the
FRs should also be covered by the
governments Conditional Cash
Transfer (CCT) program.
The 50 FRs qualified for CLIP
financial assistance of PhP65,000
mostly for livelihood assistance,
released in late 2014 and coursed
through the Davao City government
and the DILG. On Mayor Rodrigo
Dutertes behest, FRs were not
required to present validating IDs
to encash their Land Bank checks
because they were just emerging from
an illegal past.
The changes in the former rebels are
first manifest on the personal level.
Initially, the FRs seemed ashamed,
kept silent, walked with heavy steps,
their eyes drooped. Now they tell
September 2015
Annabelle T. Lugo, also known as Butchoy
stories, are not loathe to leave home,

and move around more freely.
proposes a research study on the

impact of CLIP among Davaos FRs.
A horse named Butchoy
Indeed there is life after armed

struggle (or underground work).
Erstwhile activist Annabelle Lugo, aka
Butchoy, is helping heal the walking
wounded of the insurgency in Davao
by equipping them, like she was,
to start anew. The narrative is still
unfolding but what a tale it is. Life,
truly, is stranger than fiction.
Up in the mountains, when Butchoy

visits, the FRs eagerly tell her, We
are still alive ... we have purchased a
motorcycle. (Like horses, motorbikes
are a necessity on rough mountain
trails.) Hiking for hours to a mountain
village when someone wants to
surrender, Butchoy calls this work
risk-taking and breath-taking
you are not sure if you will return
home dead or alive. She draws joy
from parents who are grateful that
she has restored dignity to the life
of our son. But the highest praise
comes from the FRs who have named
their children and animals after her,
including horses and carabaos.
Butchoy worries about CLIPs
sustainability. And although she
is grooming an able successor,
the reintegration program needs
to develop more stalwarts from
within the department and the LGU.
Butchoy recommends training focal
persons (FPs) on the district level so
that follow-up and monitoring are
decentralized. Meanwhile, Butchoy
Halfway House to Happy Home
In 2014, Davao Oriental and its 183

barangays were declared insurgencyfree under the watch of Gov.
Corazon Malanyaon (see Kababaihan
at Kapayaan, March 2014). But for
former rebel-surrenderees and their
communities, the challenge was
and is: how to make the shift from
rebellion to reintegration?
As the number of surrenderees served
by the Provincial Social Welfare and
Development Office (PSWDO) rose
(from six in 2011 to 80 in 2012), the
concern at provincial peace and order
(PPOC) meetings was where to house
them. Some surenderees came with
high-powered weapons for their
23
security, and hoped for a cash

reward after evaluation and
assessment. But this put them in
a Catch-22 situation because taking
the arms rendered them vulnerable
to reprisal from the NPA for
whom surrendering with arms is
punishable by death.
In 2011 over 20 FRs, some with their
families, were lodged in a military
camp, straining the camps
resources to feed and house
them. Clearly the FRs needed
their own space. Many FRs came
with something potentially more
destructive than weaponry:
emotional baggage. They were
in no condition to meld into the
community at large and needed a
space of their own.
Gov. Malanyaon pressed the OPAPP,
through PAMANA, for funding to put
up a kind of halfway house for the FRs.
The provincial government would
provide a budget for operations. Thus
Happy Home was born out of sheer
necessity. It is located in Magay, Don
Martin Marundan, Mati City, not far
from the army camp that used to
shelter the FRs.
Staff and finances
In September 2013, Happy Home or

HH (also known as Halfway House
and Processing Center) started
operations with six staffers and an
operations manual crafted by the
PSWDO. It is managed by Evelyn
A. Vallar, 60, a former PSWDO
department head with 28 years in
service, and Marlyn M. Casibua,
42, as program officer who has
served four years in PSWDOs crisis
intervention unit.
The provincial government
provided financial assistance in
2013 through the PPOC. This was
24
Evelyn A. Vallar, manager of Happy Home
increased to PhP1 million in 2014

and another million in 2015 coursed
through PSWDO.
were housed and fed at a Bayanihan

Center and given sessions on values
formation and spiritual enrichment.
In 2014, the Department of

Interior and Local Government
(DILG) provided PhP2,700 for each
of the 40 FRs as administrative
component in a one-shot grant.
As with their Davao City
counterparts, each FR received
PhP65,000 in 2014 under CLIP
administered through the local
government and the DILG. This year,
11 FRs will be getting assistance
from CLIP while the papers of an
additional 20 FRs are
in the processing stage.
Happy Home gradually took shape

offering training programs in
financial livelihood in 2013. In 2014,
its first full year of operations,
HH served a total of 43 FRs and
numerous kin who also underwent
entrepreneurial skills training under
a total family approach.
Programs and services in 2014
In developing Happy Home, Vallar

drew on her experience working
with the National Reconciliation and
Development Program (NRDP), the
first program for rebel returnees
under President Cory Aquino, from
1987 to 1992. The NRDP focused
on amnesty and safe conduct for
FRs and provided legal assistance
to those with cases that preceded
their NPA years. During the one
to two weeks of processing, they
Training pool
A range of human resources is tapped

for training and related activities
including personnel
from government agencies such as
the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA)
and the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST). Also involved are
private institutions, pastors, a school
psychologist, and a social worker.
There is also TESDA-accredited
skills training in food processing,
baking, bartending, massage and
housekeeping. When prices of
sardines and milkfish dipped, the
FRs were trained in smoked fish
processing, along with chorizo or
sausage and vinegar making.
September 2015
three women, three stories

Out of 50 former rebel CLIP beneficiaries in Davao City
last year, five are female. Mary Ann from North Cotabato
and Carol from Paquibato were both 15 and adventurous
when they joined the New Peoples Army. Susan (who
belongs to a later batch) was a fugitive from justice. Their
names have been changed to protect them from harm.
Mary Ann
Mary Anns parents were former rebels themselves

and she joined out of curiosity. Eight years with the
movement, her father was the only survivor in an
encounter that killed 11 comrades. He eventually left
because he had to work to support his four children.
Her mother, charged with medical tasks, left the NPA
when she was pregnant with Mary Ann.
Mary Ann taught local folk political education and
farming. Initially denied permission to visit her denguestricken father, she decided to leave later when he
developed a more serious spinal cord-related illness. She
bolted the guerrilla unit (along with 38 others) after over
two years in the movement. Not long after, she met and
married Ramon, also a surrenderee, who had likewise
failed to secure a leave to visit his aging father, after two
years of waiting.
With the initial cash assistance from CLIP the couple
purchased a small abaca field for PhP10,000, grossing
PhP90,000 in one harvest and netting PhP30,000. They
also completed construction of their house. With a
bigger combined livelihood subsidy (of PhP50,000
each) the couple bought three more abaca fields. Abaca
(Manila hemp) is harvested thrice yearly, requires little
maintenance and is self-regenerating. The couple has
also opened a small dry goods store and purchased
a horse. Mary Ann can now plan for the future,
transitioning from abaca worker to abaca owner with
ease and grace (and CLIP funds).
years, exhaustion and loneliness overcame her and Carol

sought permission to vacation in a distant province.
Upon her return, Carol surrendered to Task Force Davao,
and got married. Her immediate cash subsidy of PhP15,000
went to household furnishings and childrens clothes. She
used the PhP50,000 livelihood fund to build a piggery and
purchase eight piglets. She also has a modest field of corn.
Carol says there is a vast difference in her before and
after account: inside the movement she was cut off from
family with no visits for three years, her tasks had no
clear direction (mga lakawlakaw mga way tunong), the
future was uncertain. With conflict, there is no peace
and you are led to the grave (diha ka paingon menteryo).
Her eyes gleam when she speaks of a childhood dream
that is within sight: college studies in a police academy
in Manila. A recent high school graduate through a tenmonth ALS (alternative learning system) program, she has
the blessing of her husband who promises to care for the
children if police studies in Manila become a reality.
Susan
The third female FRs tale is a classic one of gender

injustice. Susan was raped at 16 when she took a back
seat ride on a neighbors motorbike on a desolate stretch
between Cotabato and Davao. A year or two later, she
exacted revenge with the help of some friends. For
various reasons, including safety and security, she
signed up with the NPA. But after a year, sick and tired,
she wished to leave. Frequent NPA-military encounters
delayed her departure. She recalls subsisting only on
forest leaves for a week.
In 2014, she finally managed to leave; she had begun
to feel numbness in half of her body. Her 70-year old
father had suffered a stroke, her mother had high blood
pressure, and her two-year old child was sickly.
Carol
Where Mary Ann is dusky, Carol is fair of skin, the 11th

in a brood of 12. She joined the movement because she
wanted to become a police officer and joining the NPA
was the closest she could get to handling a gun. At 15, she
trained in both simple weaponry and medical procedures
such as circumcision, tooth extraction, prenatal check-ups
and dispensing vitamins to malnourished kids. After three
September 2015
At present, she has planted rice, corn and vegetables on a

small field, renting a carabao at PhP150 daily and saving
the PhP50 in labor cost by doing the plowing herself.
She sprays fertilizer twice and nets PhP2,000 every three
months. Having had more than her share of heartache
and hardship, Susan looks forward to financial assistance
through CLIP to improve her present and build a future
for her and her child.
25
healing emotional trauma

Among the scores of former rebels who have passed through Halfway House,
more than a handful have suffered through layers of emotional trauma.
Two facts are noteworthy: first, many FRs are second-generation NPA
cadres; and, second, family violence predates and interacts with violence
experienced in the movement. This is true of four HH former rebels who
have undergone psychotherapy.
Jim (not his real name), 23 and single, has half-siblings from his fathers first
marriage. He, his two brothers and their mother, lived in a white area
(where the NPA exercises some influence and control). Jim served in the
NPA as courier-errand boy. He also learned to love guns. His mother worked
as liaison and revolutionary tax collector.
When he was in grade school, his parents accepted the governments offer
of amnesty but they eventually separated. Shaken by the separation, Jim
and his brothers decided to join the NPA. Over a decade later, in 2012, this
emotional pain came to the fore when he witnessed the death of comrades
during day-long hostilities under heavy bombardment in Agusan. In
December, after Typhoon Pablo devastated parts of Davao including his
home, his half-sister asked him to surrender. In 2013, when he learned
that his younger brother was killed by the NPA as revenge for their older
brothers surrendering to the authorities with a cache of arms, Jim decided
to surrender as well.
From childhood until his surrender at age 21, Jim says he had not
experienced a normal family life. His father is now a pastor in Lanao, his
mother has mostly been absent from his life, which explains his ambivalent
feelings toward her.
In mid-2014, the NPA abducted Jim and kept him in blindfold for three days,
demanding that he kill his older brother to save his own life. Jim refused and
instead invoked the NPA rule of consulting the masa (people) when meting a
death sentence. Moved by Jims passion and articulateness, the people gave
him a reprieve on condition that he remained in the village, otherwise he
would be killed on sight.
Jim found his way back to the authorities and to Halfway House which
provided him with counseling and psychotherapy services. The quest for
emotional well-being has proven to be rugged terrain for Jim. But now he
can lay claim to many firsts in his life: he has gotten to know and value and
affirm himself, he is able to mix with others, he can do laundry, and he has
learned to pray. He celebrated his birthday for the first time.
An ALS graduate, Jim had wanted to join the military for security reasons.
But he has overcome his fear, saying, Kun padaug kog kahadlok, way mahimo.
(If I let fear rule me, I will be inutile.) Jim plans to attend a welding course at
TESDA. There is still a lot to overcome but Jim, and the staff of Happy Home,
know that has started on his journey to healing.
26
Counseling
Happy Home provides case and

group counseling for deeply
traumatized FRs, often caused by
domestic violence that predates,
or intersects with violence
experienced in the movement. The
counselees said they felt a new sense
of freedom, self-confidence and
trust, happy thoughts and positive
attitudes, and a sense of belonging.
They developed a clearer sense of
self (to deal with personal and
family problems), and acceptance
of lifes realities. Thus they were
ready to move on.
Eight FRs were reunited with
immediate family members and kin
in the presence of social welfare
officers from Tagum and Davao, their
deep rooted feelings of anger and
depression healed and reconciled.
Total family approach
Livelihood projects are framed by

the total family approach. Young
and single, many FRs are tempted
to misuse livelihood funds, for
instance, purchasing mobile phones
and motorbikes that are not part
of their business plans. One FR
bought a second-hand motorbike
for PhP20,000 which was impounded
because it had no proper papers.
There are, however, success stories,
such as the FR who planted abaca and
falcatta on land he had purchased,
and another who went into goat
raising, bought two cows and helped
send two of his siblings to college.
But laying down arms is just as
fraught with danger as using
them in armed combat. One of the
more successful FRs ventured into
planting bananas and other crops,
making PhP2,000 weekly from
banana sales. But his success proved
September 2015
to be his undoing. The NPA, out of

spite or envy, spread the word that
he was an asset (military informer)
and took him to a distant place
blindfolded. A few weeks later, he
was reported killed and buried.
Alternative Learning System
Noting that many FRs have little or

no education since they come from
very remote communities without
schools, Vallar sought help from the
Department of Education (DepEd) in
introducing the alternative learning
system (ALS) to the FRs. ALS is a
special learning program for those
who have not completed secondary
education. The standard ten-month
course was compressed into six
weeks of daily classes.
Teaching content is based on three
levels: a basic literacy program or
BLP, elementary and secondary.
When learners complete the
secondary course and pass the
exams, they qualify for college.
There were 30 learners in the first
two ALS batches.
After orientation, FRs are required
to write an essay to determine
their learning level. The BLP and
secondary levels include basic
literacy and numeracy, and English,
math and science, respectively. In
Jonathan R. Gallardo of DepEd at an ALS session in Happy Home.
the current crop of 21, many are in

their early 20s, single, and majority
are at the secondary level. Jonathan
R. Gallardo, ALS supervising specialist
of DepEd, observes that although the
FRs have good speaking skills, many
cannot write or construct a sentence
and are weak at numbers.
Not everyone passes the first
time around and there are course
repeaters. Learners complain of
headaches and take many cups of
coffee. Gallardo says they have to
learn not only to read, but also
to comprehend what they read.
Nevertheless, he notes, they sincerely
want to learn and are thankful to
government for the chance to study.
Male former rebels train in fish processing at Happy Home.
September 2015
In the current batch, many want

to join the military (for which
72 collegiate academic units are
required), several wish to work as
OFWs, two want to become teachers,
one a welder. When FRs express
regret over lost time and opportunity,
Gallardo tells them, Those are just
lifes lessons. It is not too late (to
learn). Poverty should not stop you
from securing an education.
Problems and challenges
Not surprisingly, some challenges in

Mati echo those expressed by the staff
in Davao City. One problem concerns
the monitoring of FRs who live in
areas inaccessible to public transport.
One visit can cost PhP1,500 for a
motorcycle ride on rough mountain
roads. Vallar says that lack of travel
funds has hampered consistency and
continuity of services.
A major problem lies in the
implementation of the livelihood
program. Program officer Casibua
says there should be a more rigorous
assessment of beneficiaries and
government should take a hand in
processing and purchasing. Large
sums should not simply be handed
27
From warrior to pastor

Frank (a pseudonym) joined the
NPA in 2011 at age 17. He recalls
some of the lessons taught him
then: that education should be
free and at his age, he should
be in college; that government
should be by the people; that
products should be sold at fair
prices. Nevertheless, four years
later, he left the NPA because, I
realized I had no future there.
(L to R): Jonathan R. Gallardo, ALS teacher specialist; Angelito

Gallendez, utility; Cyril Ann A. Cruda, social worker; Marlyn M. Casibua,
program officer; Helen S. Maratas, house parent, and Rodel D. Blas, civil
security.
over to young FRs, many of whom

deviate from their business plans
to purchase mobile phones and
motorcycles. She says even the
family approach is inadequate:
a determined FR can overrule his
mothers advice.
With elections looming in mid-2016,
Vallar worries about the future of
CLIPs livelihood program if the
next President proves less
supportive of FRs. Casibua is also
concerned about Happy Homes
sustainability, particularly because
the current governor, a staunch
supporter, is on her last term.
Another problem pertains to FRs
who come from other provinces
(such as Compostela Valley or
Surigao del Sur) which do not
provide them with logistical support.
These problems and challenges
notwithstanding, Evelyn Vallar is
gratified by the modest progress
made by the FRs in their journey to
more peaceful and productive lives.
She reports that many FRs and their
28
families are functioning as normal

families in their own community
with the former rebels enjoying
some degree of acceptance.
Two contrasting approaches
Mati Citys Halfway House and

Processing Center and Davao
City CSSDOs community-based
integration program represent
two differing approaches that
do not conflict with, but rather
complement, each other. They
reflect two dimensions of an integral
approach without which a former
rebels transition to a new life can
only be partial, if not short-lived.
In Mati, the center provides time
and space for FRs to find themselves,
and each other, for training sessions
that are geared to their special needs,
for family reconciliation that must
bridge time and space. The center
also provides a safe space for deeplytroubled FRs who must wrestle with
their demons before they can face
themselves and the world.
Frank added, We always spoke

about arms. During hostilities we
were always on the run, wounded
or not. Kun namatay ko, ilubong
ko taga-tuhod (If I died, I would
be buried knee-deep. There was
no time for a proper burial). A
second problem for Frank was
the Communist doctrine that says
there is no God.
Frank says that the NPA did not
keep its promise of extending
help to cadres in need, as when
his mother fell ill. I want to live
a normal life, with no enemies.
This, and the fact that Frank is
a born-again Christian, explains
his 360-degree turnaround from
armed combatant to preacher of
peace. Once he passes ALS, Frank
will study to be a pastor.
Meanwhile, as Butchoy of the

Davao City CSSDO rightly says,
the true test of integration is
whether FRs can function in society,
pursuing sustainable livelihoods
while raising their families and
contributing to the community.
Thus the Davao City program
immediately engages the
community and its stakeholders in
the integration process. Perhaps it
is time that both approaches
interface with, and learn lessons
from, each other.
September 2015
Women who run the Armm

By MiracLe JacKLyn z. esPinas and MeLisa yuBoKMee
the system is only as good as the people running it. arMM is not only the regional government, but also the
local government units. reform has to work on all these levels.
- arMM executive secretary Laisa alamia
By BREAKING CuLTuRAL STEREoTyPES AND

upping the ante for themselves while staying true to their
roots, two women are now at the helm of the Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao: Laisa Masuhud Alamia, as
executive secretary, and Amihilda Julsadjiri Sangcopan, as
regional secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform.
Born in Jolo, Sulu in 1976 to a Maranao father and

Tausug mother, Sangcopan experienced discrimination
but in a different way: her Moro friends thought that I
did not understand them and what it meant to be Moro
because I had Christian friends.
Alamia and Sangcopan have pursued paths that

parallel each other, in parts: growing up Moro in
southwestern Mindanao and experiencing discrimination,
aspiring for academic excellence and studying all the
way to college in Zamboanga City, engaging in social
advocacies by working with NGOs, balancing home and
work (Sangcopan has a 17-old son, Alamia has three
children ages eight to 14), and returning home to the
exhausting but also rewarding challenge of public service.
Sangcopan belongs to a tightly knit family that lives

by the tenets of Islam, studying Arabic on weekends,
partaking of the reading of the Quran, observing
Ramadan, and celebrating Eidl Fitr like a family reunion
to which schoolmates, Muslim and Christian, were
invited. Sangcopans liberal-minded parents allowed
her to befriend anyone regardless of religion.
Growing up among Moro and Christian peers alike
taught Sangcopan at an early age how diversity can be
leveraged to bring people together.
Growing up Moro and the reality of armed conflict
Academic excellence and student activism
A martial law baby, Alamia was uprooted from her

birthplace, Barangay Tictapul in Zamboanga City, due
to armed conflict. On the mistaken belief that Tictapuls
predominantly Sama Bangingi community sheltered
forces of the Moro National Liberation Front (the MNLF is
largely Tausug), the military launched a major offensive,
torched the village, and raped and killed some women.
Alamia, a Tausug-Yakan-Visayan, was too young to
comprehend events and learned of the full account of the
siege from her parents years later. There was no closure
or healing for many, including her mother, whose grocery
store and tailoring shop were robbed (her jewelry taken)
and burned down. Her mother fell into depression, seldom
spoke and died early.
With the fragile peace and order situation then

prevailing in Sulu, Sangcopans parents took her to
Zamboanga City where she studied grade school to
high school, completing her nursing and law degrees
at Western Mindanao State University (WMSU).
Sangcopan was a consistent honor student. At
WMSU she became fast friends with classmate Sitti
Djalia Turabin (now Hataman), sharing her advocacy
against a projected tuition fee increase. Her classmate
is now Anak Mindanao (AMIN) party-list representative
in Congress and wife of ARMM governor Mujiv Hataman.
Sangcopan also joined the Association of Anak Moro
for Peace and Development, marking the start of her
peace advocacy.
September 2015
29
Laisa Masuhud Alamia, Executive Secretary of ARMM
At age seven, Alamia and her family moved to Barangay

Talon-Talon. Because there were only three Muslims in
her grade one class, she was subjected to bullying and
being derogated as muklo. The experience, she says,
was etched in my memoryI couldnt understand why
we were being called that, and why it was offensive.
Rather than embittering her, the experience made her
realize the difficulty of growing up in a place with people
whose beliefs are different from ones own. She recalls,
that was one reason I was motivated to be the best in
class so I wouldnt be bullied or hurt anymore. Alamia
topped her classes from first grade to college.
In college at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, the
religious and cultural barriers broke down. The hijab or
traditional Muslim female garb was not required then
and Muslims were indistinguishable from Christians. I
felt safe inside the school because everyone accepted
the way we people were. Religion didnt get in the way
of friendships (between Muslims and Christians). But
there were those who were not able to recover from the
feeling of persecution, and they were always defensive,
Alamia says. And the full truth of the attack on Tictapul,
the sexual violence, and her mothers deep unhappiness
and premature death, imprinted itself on Alamia,
awakening her consciousness as Muslim and female. She
remarks, (Although) we have been oppressed all this
time, the important thing is we can prove that Moros
can succeed and excel.
NGo advocacy
Sangcopans involvement with non-government

organizations started in 2000 as a volunteer community
30
organizer with the Moro Human Rights Center. In 2005

she was elected secretary of the Philippine Alliance of
Human Rights Advocates, and is currently a trustee
of Pinay Kilos (PinK). The latter aims to provide
development opportunities for Mindanao women as
agents of peace and womens rights.
For her part, Alamia worked briefly as a nurse in Saudi
Arabia and later taught at the Ateneo de Zamboanga. She
later worked at the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) Regional Office in Zamboanga while
taking up law. She was active in interfaith groups that
tried to bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians
in Zamboanga City. She worked with interfaith groups in
behalf of a community opposed to corporate mining in
a Zamboanga City watershed. The community won, the
watershed was safe.
As a Muslim woman, Alamia feels privileged at being
educated and having become a lawyer, opportunities
denied many Muslim women. Exposure to other cultures
and ideologies has made her critical of abuses of
the situation of women because of the law (P.D. 1083
or Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines)
allowing early and polygamous marriages. This started
her engagement in evidence-based advocacy for genderbased justice, working with global Muslim women
organizations on gender justice.
A 2009 research study her NGO, Nisa Ul-Haqq fi
Bangsamoro, did on the prevalence of early marriages in
ARMM made her see that more than the law (P.D. 1083)
enabling it such, (early marriages) have been a cultural
practice. She notes that a lot of women do not know
September 2015
Amihilda Julsadjiri Sangcopan, Regional Secretary, Department of Agrarian Reform-ARMM
about divorce. They suffer spouse abuse. International

conventions to protect women are to no avail.
Highlighting the need for empirical evidence, Alamia
cites the consultations and dialogues that have given
voice to these gender issues.
education, livelihood), and other grassroots-based

programs that have impact on the lives of ordinary Moros
in the ARMM.
Two other women hold key positions in ARMM:
Cabinet Secretary Norkhalila Mae B. Mambuay-Campong
and OIC Atty. General Sahara Alia Silongan.
Women and public service
In 1999, Sangcopan joined the DAR provincial office

in Basilan, later moving to the DAR regional office in
Zamboanga City. In 2004-2010, she served as chief
political affairs officer of a Mindanao legislator and in
2011, was appointed deputy executive director of the
National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF). Of
the latter, she says she felt honored and happy to be
a government official serving Muslims. In 2012 she was
appointed chief of staff (COS) to now ARMM Regional
Governor Hataman, which meant heavy workloads
during the transition period. In 2013, Sangcopan
returned to DAR but this time as ARMM regional
secretary, responsible for hundreds of employees and
even more agrarian reform communities.
Alamia was at the peak of her human rights advocacy
work when she helped establish the regional Commission
on Human Rights Office to which she was appointed as
OIC Director in 2012 and as commission chairperson in
2013. She accepted the invitation to serve ARMM as the
first female executive secretary because it would be
good for women to be working on this path (of reforms),
set forth our agenda, and have the power to change
things. Alamia talks about working for a more efficient
delivery of basic services through ARMM HELPS (health,
September 2015
ARMM women in the national legislature include Rep. Bai

Sandra A. Sema (1st district Maguindanao), Rep. Maryam
Napii Arbison (2nd district Sulu), Rep. Ruby M. Sahali
(lone district Tawi-Tawi) and Rep. Sitti Djalia Hataman
(AMIN Partylist).
BBL and the road to transformation
Sangcopan says that the BBL is a means to end the

conflict, but it cannot accomplish this on its own.
Implementation is crucial, she adds. At the same time, she
affirms, The BBL can and will give us a brighter future.
Alamia believes that the BBL is a fuller expression of the
aspirations of the Bangsamoro people but also stresses
the imperative of good governance through reforms
which is not only about changing the structures but also
changing mindsets. She says that the feudal principle
of the clan rules must now give way to Bangsamoro
before selfnot the government, but its people.
Laisa Alamia and Amihilda Sangcopan, two time- and
battle-tested women, are gearing for yet one more key
effort: a safe transition from ARMM to Bangsamoro and
ensuring that the BBL is strong enough to survive, take
root and flourish beyond May 2016.
31
survivor of war, builder of peace

Anisa Taha was 14 years old when martial law was declared. She recalls
her first experience of war. My friends and I didnt have any idea what
was going on around us. There were planes flying overhead that seemed to
observe everything below. It was when we saw something drop from the
plane that we knew we had to run.
There were explosions everywhere and it lasted for what I thought was
hours. Everything went silent after that. Among the smoke and rubble, we
saw my cousins lifeless body, his clothes soaked with blood, Taha grimly
remembers. This is war, I said to myself.
Anisa Taha, now 51, is chairperson of Noorus Salam, an organization of
aleemats or women religious leaders and peace advocates who help educate
Bangsamoro women on their role in the peace process and the armed
conflict. Taha is well qualified for the task, having herself experienced the
struggles of women amid armed conflict.
The conflict of yesteryears made the Bangsamoro womens life
miserable, she says.
Anisa Taha
The bright red hijab Taha wears does not conceal the sadness in her eyes and the pain brought by the war that
destroyed her childhood. Her family had to move from place to place to escape the bullets and the bombs from Air
Force planes. But what pained her the most were not the bullets that rained on them day and night, but her uphill
struggle to pursue her education.
I was a valedictorian before the war. Whenever we entered a village or a barangay that offered Madrasah (Muslim
education), I asked my father to enroll me, even if the grade level they were offering was lower than what I took before
the war. I really wanted to study even if it was only in a Madrasah, Taha recalls.
During martial law, many schools were closed and young men and women were forced to join the fight against
oppression. Taha herself had no choice but to join the struggle in the jungle with her older sisters and cousins, because
they would be forced to marry military men if they were found. There were also women who were kidnapped and
raped overnight and released in the morning.
She recalls, Even though I was only 16 years old, the soldiers tried asking for my hand in marriage but I declined and
told them that I was pursuing my education in the city.
The end of martial law gave Taha the chance to pursue her dreams. After graduation in Arabic and English studies, she
founded Noorus Salam and taught private Madrasa. Half of her time, she went around the villages educating women on
the basics of Islam and organizing them to pursue the struggle for self-determination.
She has been doing this for over 20 years. Women are not just breeders. We encourage them to fight for their rights
as wives and daughters.
With the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB), the Comprehensive Agreement on the
Bangsamoro (CAB) and the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Taha hopes that the end of the long-drawn out armed
conflict in Mindanao is near and the rights of women, who are victims of the struggle, are prioritized. Mc Jazer Malonda
32
September 2015
NAP WPs update
building women friendly spaces

By JurGette honcuLada
how does the national
Action Plan on Women, Peace and

Security (NAP WPS) achieve its
overarching goal: women in
conflict and post conflict situations
are protected, empowered and play
a decisive role in peace and security
processes and mechanisms? Often
it is a nexus of need, numbers and
a knack for gender that bring lofty
intentions down to earth.
Launched in 2010, the NAP WPS
is the Philippine governments
response to a call issued by the
United Nations Security Council
through Resolution 1325
underscoring the need to promote
womens rights in conflict and postconflict situations; and to prevent the
violation of these rights.
The Department of Social Welfare
and Developments (DSWD) Women
Friendly Space (WFS) project is one
of its commitments to NAP WPS. The
project emerged and took shape as
corrective to the one-size-fits-all
conventional approach to disaster
relief and rehabilitation. The WFS
was introduced by the UNFPA (United
Nations Population Fund) gender
advisor in the aftermath of Typhoon
Sendong that pummeled Cagayan
de Oro (CDO) in late 2011 and left
thousands dead and homeless in
the region. Traditional relief goods
have since moved from the standard
provision of rice, noodles and
sardines to include flashlights, solar
lamps and sanitary napkins.
September 2015
Women at a WFS site in Barangay Looc, South upi, Maguindanao meet

with uNFPA personnel on common concerns.
But WFS also passed judgment on

the (sometimes unwitting) gender
blindness of disaster programs.
The unrelenting series of disasters,
natural and human-made, that visited
the country from 2011 to 2013 yielded
refugees in the tens and hundreds of
thousands and the needs of countless
women among them showed how
one-size-(or sex) fits-all comes
up short. That women had specific
needs demanding space and time
became all too apparent. For women
have reproductive health and other
needs that demand space and time.
Lactating and pregnant women,
women as women, the old and young,
need privacy as a necessity, not a
luxury, even in, especially in refugee
camps and evacuation centers.
Thus the DSWD sought a women
friendly space for mothers, many of
them breastfeeding, and childrens
activities in the huge Tent City in
CDO that housed over 300 internally
displaced families in the aftermath
of Typhoon Sendong. Four more
multipurpose structures were built by
an international organization which

had one designated as a WFS site.
Alona Bermejo, formerly of DSWDs
Social Technology Bureau and now
OPAPP peace program officer, fleshed
out the WFS design based on the
Womens Empowerment Framework
and contextualized WFS in terms of
the local situation. The framework,
by Sara Longwe, is a popular method
of gender analysis and planning
which posits an ascending scale of
womens empowerment in terms
of welfare (food, health, etc), access
(land, labor, credit), conscientization
(awareness raising), participation (in
decision making) and control.
The reworked WFS project was to
have been pilot tested in 2012 in
Maguindanao, a conflict area, but
Typhoon Pablo in late 2012 hit two
Davao provinces which then became
the pilot test areas. A year later,
the triple-whammy of the Bohol
earthquake, Zamboanga siege and
Typhoon Yolanda confirmed
the validity of expanding WFS
33
from evacuation centers to

communities where many victims
chose to seek shelter.
Initially, WFS simply consisted of
space and a number of activities. The
need for livelihoodprompted by the
sight of idle men (also women), and
of young girls trading sex for cash
(or relief goods)was addressed by
skills training and cash-for-work,
however limited. As well, escalation
of gender-based violence and
exploitation (trafficking, domestic
abuse) in refugee camps and conflict
areas highlighted the need for gender
consciousness-raising.
Ten WFS sites
Conflict and flooding had caused

a spike in trafficking cases in
Maguindanao, and commercial
sex and domestic abuse had been
reported in refugee camps in
Zamboanga and Tacloban cities. Men,
including police, were participants in
sessions that tackled violence against
women and children (R.A. 9262),
anti-trafficking (R.A. 9208), sexual
exploitation of women and genderbased violence, as well as parenting.
A total of ten WFS sites were
established in conflict-affected areas
in 2013-14: six in Maguindanao,
one in North Cotabato, and three
in Zamboanga City, all operated by
NGOs. (DSWD has more WFS sites
in disaster areas ran by its own
personnel.) Capacity-building or
training of staff and volunteers was
undertaken by DSWD. Of a total
13,805 participants in 465 sessions on
gender-based violence (GBV) held in
seven WFS sites in Maguindanao and
North Cotabato in 2013-14, nearly
60% were female.
For the period that WFS sites were
in operation, they helped open the
34
hearts, minds and will of poor Muslim

and indigenous (lumad) women. One
GBV session participant from Datu
Piang, Maguindanao said she and
her colleagues have learned a lot
and feel empowered knowing they
are not only plain housewives but
they have the right to work outside
home and earn their own income.
She added that in the context of
Central Mindanao, if women are
not allowed to do decent work,
this means death for their families
because their menfolk are less
productive as they are involved in
the resistance movement.
A Teduray (indigenous) woman
from South Upi, Maguindanao said
that in the past, women feared to
report spouse abuse to the barangay
council but WFS has equipped them
with information on womens rights
and prevention of gender-based
violence. Now they know how and
where to access needed services
or support, according to Datusikie
Ampilan, executive director of
Magungaya Mindanao, Inc., an NGO
that operated the WFS sites. Women
and young girls from Midsayap,
North Cotabato learned that to
remain silent in the face of domestic
abuse would be at risk to their own
lives and that mens refusal to let
their wives work outside home
constitutes a form of economic
abuse as stated in R.A. 9262 (antiviolence against women law).
Over-all, Ampilan notes that
women in WFS sites become
gender and peace advocates, who
manage to confront their husbands
to talk peacefully about family
problems and, in cases of genderbased violence, to access local
protective mechanisms such as the
barangay VAW (Violence Against
Women) desk or the MCAT-VAWC
(Municipal Committee Against
Trafficking-Violence Against Women

and Children).
Continuity is the main challenge
that WFS faces because funding to
NGOs typically run for six months
after which LGUs including
barangays are expected to own
the program and provide modest
operating budgets. Some LGUs demur
that they have no funds, and yet the
GAD (gender and development) fund
consisting of a minimum of 5% of LGU
budgets was established precisely for
programs that can make a change
in womens lives. Gender must
be mainstreamed in governance,
particularly in LGUs, for women
friendly spaces to remain sustainable.
Walking the talk of gender
Nolibelyn Macabagdal, who is in

charge of DSWDs Women Welfare
Program Protective Services Bureau,
says that LGUs, particularly in
conflict-affected areas, are slowly
learning the talk, gender-wise, as
they form their local anti-trafficking
committees (LCAT) and are trained
in the prevention of violence
against women and children by the
Department of Interior and Local
Government; and as they constitute
their disaster risk and reduction
(DRRM) programs and mechanisms.
Macabagdal is optimistic that all
this will open the LGUs mindset to
prioritize womens needs.
It is late in the day, but not too late,
for LGUs to walk the talk of gender
equality and harness the untapped
power of gender in the pursuit of
peace. Clearly, the challenge in
Maguindanao, as elsewhere, is for the
GAD Fund to truly become a source for
womens empowerment and enduring
peace. NAP is laying its bets on gender
and peace, a most potent pairing to
buttress good governance.
September 2015
reFleCtioN
A soldiers song
By Marra PL. Lanot
Let the hills and mountains
Roll up behind me like
The tangled past of a jungle.
Let a rose grow when
I lay down my gun
Where the desert meets the shore.
I long to throw away
This mask of maleness,
All male desire to kill,
To spit the blood, the sourNess balled in my mouth.
I have forgotten the face
Of my mother, sister, niece.
All I see are trenches
Hate burrowed in my brothers face,
His eyes, two barrels of a gun
Unleashing bullets.
I have learned that foes
May become friends tomorrow
And friends my foes tonight.
This season I may own a
Bowl of rice, next year
I might bite a fruit
Or have a new dress
Or a roof over our heads.
But I remember home
Each time a child
Presses a cheek to mine
Or even when a horse
Gives birth and goats
Cavort in a manger.
Let the hills and mountains
Roll up behind me like
The tangled past of a jungle.
Let a rose grow when
I lay down my gun
Where the desert meets the shore.
September 2015
35
uPDAtes
From the Peace tables
he Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process OPAPP continues to build
on the recent gains of the peace process towards its goal of shared peace and prosperity
for everyone in the country.
By Marc siaPno
moro islamic liberation Front (milF)
REITERATING THE governments commitment to the
Bangsamoro peace process, President Benigno Aquino III,
in his last State of the Nation Address, renewed his call to
make the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) the top priority of
the 16th Congress.
The two chambers of Congress continue to deliberate on

the proposed legislation, amid alternative versions, while
peace advocates are hopeful that the final law passed will
improve the status of the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao and remain faithful to the promise of the
Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
Parallel to the political track leading to the creation of the
Bangsamoro autonomous region, a normalization process
is being implemented jointly by the government and the
MILF. The normalization process has three components:
security, socio-economic development, and transitional
justice and reconciliation. This process is crucial in
enabling MILF combatants to return to peaceful,
productive civilian lives after years of armed conflict
in Mindanao.
In June 2015, as part of the security component, the first
phase of the decommissioning process took place in the
old provincial capitol of Sultan Kudarat in Maguindanao
with the registration and turning over to the Independent
Decommissioning Body of 75 high-powered weapons
(comprised of 51 heavy calibre and 24 crew-served
weapons) and 145 Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces
armed combatants.
At the same time, the Sajahtra Bangsamoro, a program
meant to jump-start the initial dividends of peace
after the signing of the Framework Agreement on the
Bangsamoro, continues to be rolled out jointly by the
government and the MILF in Bangsamoro communities
since its launch in February 2013. The program has been
extended until November 2015.
36
Recognizing the lessons of Mamasapano, the government

and the MILF continue to value the ceasefire mechanism
and have agreed to renew the mandates of the Civilian
Protection Component (CPC) of the International
Monitoring Team for two years, and the Ad Hoc Joint
Action Group (AHJAG) for nine months.
The International Monitoring Team (IMT) is mandated to
monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement
between the GPH and the MILF. The CPC monitors, verifies,
and reports non-compliance of the two Parties to their
basic undertaking to protect civilians and communities.
The AHJAG functions as a coordinating body in the conduct
of law enforcement operations by government forces.
moro National liberation Front (mNlF)

THE GoVERNMENT CoNTINuES to engage the MNLF,
through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),
towards its vision of a singular Bangsamoro framework
for Southern Philippines.
In April 2015, OIC secretary-general Iyad Bin Amin Madani

led an eight-man delegation for a four-day visit to the
Philippines to reaffirm its long support to the Mindanao
peace process. The secretary-general also reiterated the
OICs support for the CAB and BBL asserting that CAB is
made meaningful by the BBL as the BBL gives the CAB legs
to stand on.
The 3rd Bangsamoro Coordination Forum meetingwith
representatives both from MNLF and MILF in attendance
was also convened by the OIC during their visit. The OIC
reported that it was encouraged by the sincere desire
and the serious effort displayed by all parties involved to
push for peace in Mindanao.
In May 2015, both the MNLF and the MILF were invited to
attend the 42nd Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers
(ICFM) meeting in Kuwait. In its resolution, the 42nd ICFM
welcomed anew the conclusion of the CAB as a partial
September 2015
fulfilment of the requirements for comprehensive peace

in Mindanao and called on Secretary General Madani to
hold another session of the Tripartite Meeting.
In September 2015, the DFA hosted a meeting with
OPAPP and the embassies of the OIC-Peace Committee
of the Southern Philippines member countries to push
for the completion of Tripartite Review Process. This
was followed by an informal technical meeting of the
Tripartite Review Process on the implementation of the
1996 GPH-MNLF Final Peace Agreement. The meeting
was also called to prepare for the 5th Formal Tripartite
Meeting slated for November 2015 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The completion of the review process will eventually lead
to the implementation of agreements achieved in the
review through the mechanisms set under the envisioned
singular Bangsamoro framework, with the passage of the
BBL as its backbone.
Cordillera bodong Administration - Cordillera

Peoples liberation Army (CbA-CPlA)
four years since the signing of the Memorandum
of Agreement, the governments peace process with the
CBA-CPLA is entering its final phase. The profiling of CPLA
members has been completed and 334 out of 444 firearms
have been turned over to the government.
There are 154 community development projects currently

being implemented in the Cordilleras81 of which are
under the Closure Agreement and 73 are under the Payapa
at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) program.
The governments goal is to ensure that mechanisms
are in place to sustain the gains of the Cordillera peace
process with the transformation of the CBA-CPLA as an
unarmed, socio-economic group, and the strengthening
and sustaining of government projects under PAMANA.
rebolusyonaryong Partido ng manggagawa

Pilipinas/revolutionary Proletarian Army/
Alex boncayao brigade tabara Paduano Group
(rPm-P/rPA/Abb tPG)
current efforts are Projected towards
capacitating the ground in anticipation of the signing and
implementation of the peace agreement. These include
putting in place the necessary implementing guidelines,
mechanisms, and structure that will support the peace
pact with RPM-P/RPA/ABB TPG.
Profiling of 100 community peace dividends (CPD)

barangays is being completed to ensure that the right
September 2015
interventions are going to be delivered to the respective

communities. A total of 5,056 CPD community members
have been enrolled in PhilHealth; 128 TPG members
(minus those who have been delisted from TPG
membership, AWOLs, and those who have passed away)
are employed as forest guards, with the budget for the
renewal of contracts included in the 2016 national budget;
and qualified dependents of CPD community members
are now covered by OPAPP-Commission on Higher
Education scholarships.
Alternatives for contested settlement sites have been
identified and are currently being deliberated for final
approval. Technical working groups for other settlement
sites have been activated to complete the Comprehensive
Development Plans for their respective areas to ensure
their economic sustainability and security.
In May 2015, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in
consultation with local governments and the TPG,
finalized the Interim Security Arrangements. Meanwhile,
the implementing plan for the disposition of arms and
forces is underway.
Communist Party of the Philippines/New

Peoples Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/
NPA/NDF)
recent overtures froM the cPP/nPa/ndf
expressing openness to resume the talks have been

dampened by their insistent demand to release their
detained alleged political prisoners before they return to
the negotiating table.
The government reiterates its readiness to take the
necessary steps to move the peace process with the
communist rebels forward but, given the limited
runway, the talks should be time-bound with a clear
agenda that is doable within the remaining months of
the Aquino presidency.
But more importantly, the government believes that
both parties should be able to regain the trust of the
people in the peace process, by working on delivering
clear, tangible benefits on the ground, particularly, the
lessening of the levels of violence.
As government waits for the CPP/NPA/NDF to return
to the negotiating table, it continues to implement focused
peace and development projects in conflict-affected
communities through convergence initiatives of national
and local governments. The government also continues
to engage with the Norwegian Third Party Facilitator in
finding means to open the possibilities of resumption.
37
NeWs brieFs
di o
caravan
iti
t ro
S ri ao d l S r
r i
By Marc siaPno
Thousands of residents from Andap Valley in Surigao del Surmostly from the Manobo and Mamanwa communities
attended the service caravan conducted by local and national government agencies.
ANDAP VALLEy, Surigao del Sur Manobo and

Mamanwa communities have availed themselves of
social services from the recently concluded two-day
peace caravan jointly organized by the Provincial Peace
and Order Council of Surigao del Sur; the Association
of Caraga Executives composed of regional directors
of various agencies, their national government
counterparts, and the Rotary Club of Caraga held in
Andap Valley, Surigao del Sur.
turnover of the farm-to-market road in Sitio Neptune

in Lianga funded by the OPAPPs Payapa at Masaganang
Pamayanan (PAMANA) program.
We seek to give more meaning to the promise of walang

iwanan (nobody left behind) by reaching out to far-flung
communities in the country, especially those in need
of the governments services due to their vulnerability
to conflict, said Undersecretary Emmanuel Bautista,
executive director of the Cabinet Cluster on Security,
Justice, and Peace.
The activity was the third in a series of service caravans

by national and regional governments, in partnership
with local governments. The first two were held in
Loreto, Agusan del Sur and Talaingod, Davao del Norte.
Around 7,000 residents from the municipalities of

Marihatag, San Agustin, and Lianga benefitted from
health services, agricultural goods, scholarship grants,
and legal services to name a few, offered by regional and
central government offices.
The Department of Agrarian Reform, led by Secretary
Virgilio de los Reyes distributed Certificates of Land
Ownership Awards (CLOAs). The Department of Trade
and Industry (DTI) and Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) offered skills and
livelihood training. Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles
of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace
Process presided over the road opening ceremony and
38
Undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, and other

officials from the national government agencies
attended the caravan to extend their support and
provide direct decision-making on how the services
could be delivered to local residents more efficiently.
These caravans also present spaces for consultations

and dialogue between the community and participating
government agencies on various peace and security
concerns, Bautista added. In this way, we keep the
governments ears closer to the ground to be more
responsive to the needs of our people regardless of their
political color or affiliation.
We seek to help 1,634 families through this road by
making it easier for them to transport their goods to
the market, and by making them more accessible to
governments services, Deles said.
At the same time, the presidential peace adviser
recognized that more things need to be done to completely
meet the needs of the communities, but noted that the use
of arms is not the way to address these concerns.
September 2015
Female cop chief is one of metrobanks top police awardees

SENIoR INSP. MARICRIS MuLAT, the chief of police
of Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, is one of Ten Outstanding

Police Officers in Service (COPS) for 2015 awarded by
Metrobank Foundation.
Mulat has led various operations against mining

violators, child abuse, human trafficking, illegal drugs
and car theft.
Empowering policewomen
A mother of two who has been with the Philippine

National Police for 16 years, hers is a rare
accomplishment in the predominantly male
organization.
I hope other policewomen are empowered with
this, that we are not limited by our being women.
We can also do risky and complicated things to
address our communitys needs, Mulat said in
an interview.
I am very happy and proud to be a police officer. I hope

to inspire and empower other policewomen in the PNP
to do our best. We can do whatever our male
counterparts can do to contribute to the PNP, she said.
We were poor but I was able to send my children,
siblings and relatives to school. In return, I always do
my best so that the PNP wont be ashamed of me, Mulat
said. From Philippine daily inquirer, 11 august 2015
iriberri declares military a gender-free institution

AuGuST 23, 2015 The 125,000-strong Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) is no longer a gendered institution

and now provides equal opportunities to female soldiers
and even members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and queer) community to succeed as soldiers.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hernando Iriberri told the Inquirer
that gender mainstreaming had put emphasis on the
soldiers capability to prove their worth in combat and
non-combat roles, regardless of gender.
He said the military institution, once a male
domain, respected and advocated gender equality
in the organization, particularly in terms of rights,
responsibilities, opportunities, conditions and treatment.
We do not judge our soldiers on the basis of their gender
but rather, we give importance to their accomplishments,
competencies and work ethic, Iriberri said.
Since the enactment of Republic Act No. 7192, An Act
Promoting the Integration of Women as Full and Equal
Partners of Men in Development and Nation-Building
and for Other Purposes, the AFP has accommodated
women in its ranks with the entry of female cadets in
the Philippine Military Academy in 1993 initially with a
quota of 30, Irriberi said.
September 2015
Section 15 of the act provides that the state shall pursue

appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination of
women in the military, police and other similar services,
including revising or abolishing policies and practices
that restrict women from availing of both combat,
security-related or field operations.
AFP data show that as of October 2013, there were 1,879
female soldiers in the Philippine Army, 527 of them
officers and 1,351 enlisted women.
Iriberri said the AFP had accommodated women in its
ranks, with the female cadets initially given a quota of 18
percent.
Since 1993, female PMA cadets have graduated with
the classes of 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. Arlene de la
Cruz, a graduate of Class 99, holds the distinction of
being the first female cadet to graduate at the top of
her class.
Iriberri said female cadets undergo basically the same
rigid training as their male counterparts to become
future officers of the AFP. Likewise, punishment is
served equally regardless of gender. From http://
newsinfo.inquirer.net/715512/iriberri-declares-militarygender-free-institution
39
Gender and Peace events

september 2015 - march 2016
1-30
SEPTEMBER
oCToBER
National Peace Consciousness Month
19th Anniversary of the Signing of the 1996 GRP-MNLF Peace Agreement
12
National Day of Prayer for Peace and Reconciliation
13
29th Anniversary of the Signing of the 1986 Mt. Data Peace Accord
(Joint Memorandum of Agreement to a Concession of Hostilities)
between the GPH and the CBA-CPLA
21
United Nations - International Day of Peace
26
United Nations - International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
United Nations - International Day of Non-Violence
11
United Nations - International Day of the Girl Child
15
3rd Anniversary of the Signing of the Framework Agreement on the

Bangsamoro (FAB)
United Nations - International Day of Rural Women
24-30
6
9-15
NoVEMBER
DECEMBER
FEBRuARy
United Nations - International Week of Science and Peace

United Nations - World Science Day for Peace and Development
19
Womens World Summit Foundation - World Day for the Prevention of

Abuse and Violence Against Children and Youth
20
United Nations - Universal Childrens Day
25
United Nations - International Day for the Elimination of Violence

against Women
Last Week
Mindanao Week of Peace
1st Week
Mindanao Week of Peace
15th Anniversary of the Signing of the 2000 Peace Agreement

between the GPH and the RPM-P/RPA/ABB
10
United Nations - Human Rights Day
2-8
United Nations - World Interfaith Harmony Week
20
United Nations - World Day of Social Justice
24
21st Anniversary of the Signing of the 1995 Joint Agreement on Safety and
Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) between the GPH and NDFP
25
30th Anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution
1-31
National Womens Month

National Womens Week
Nuclear Free & Independent Pacific Day
International Womens Day
12-18
16
4th Week
40
United Nations - International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of

the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
10
1st Week
March
United Nations - Disarmament Week
Bangsamoro Week of Peace

18th Anniversary of the Signing of the 1998 Comprehensive Agreement on the
Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL)
Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment of the Girl Child Week
24
International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human
Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims
27
2nd Anniversary of the Signing of the GPH-MILF Comprehensive

Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB)
September 2015
This is our 4th issue.

Kababaihan at Kapayapaan,
a bi-annual publication of
the
fice o the Pre idential
Adviser on the Peace Process,
has featured the efforts of
women in government who
build and struggle for peace
and development in the
country.
Watch for our next issue a double one in March 2016.
For back issues, please contact

OPAPP Knowledge Management & Resource Center
at 636-0701 loc 857
Available online at www.opapp.gov.ph/resources/publications

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Issue No.

PAMANA: A legacy of peace,

Healing the walking wounded

The long road to recognition and reparation

Sidebar: Women torture

Peace takes root in

Halfway homes for rebel

Women who run the

NAP WPS Update

PeACe TAbLe UPDATeS

From the Publisher

teresita Quintos deles

human rights victims of martial law

the long road to recognition and reparation

one of the last Persons

write turned out to be harder

She had to write down her personal

One day, she received a visit from

Sharon thought she had moved

Anne told her of how she too would

that she felt much better after

Sharon and Anne are only two of

men. Many women were killed,

A double burden for women

Parong says that in safe houses and

The HRVCB received almost 47,000

Even when it was the men who were

The filing of applications was

One claimant abroad (who asked

Available partial statistics from the

Dr. Aurora Parong says R.A. 10368 performs a significant role in

Etta Rosales shows her

This is the first time the government

Philippine government has been able

responsible for. First, The Marcos

Parong says that although R.A. 10368

Second, Legislative and judiciary

Non-monetary reparations will

Teaching these will make up a

There is a compelling need for

Sharon says monetary reparation

Parong outlines three things that

[some details of sharons story were

The HRVCB now has to evaluate

Monetary reparations will come from

R.A. 10368 provides for reparations and recognition of victims of human

Women torture survivors speak out

In a safe house in Pasig, they [her captors]

I volunteered to assist the Human Rights Claims Board

I have been part of several fact-finding missions in

Peace takes root in bangsamoro

MARCH 30 was supposed to be a day of celebration.

Instead, Norombai wept.

The Mamasapano tragedy, which claimed nearly 70 lives

War is not an option. President Aquino with MILF

(BBL), an alarming increase in anti-Muslim bigotry and

The passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is

What I, as President, can tell you is this: I am personally

While the leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front