DAVAO CITY—Saying that it’s peace’s harvest time for Mindanao after several decades of sowing peace, Vice President Sara Duterte also admonished that the best antidote to war is good governance.
This was her message to the gathering of a group of peace advocates formed 28 years ago and who gathered on Friday their former and long-standing members for another roundtable discussion.
“In my experience in politics, I have realized that the antidote to war is good governance. And good governance breeds public trust,” she said.
The peace group, Kusog Mindanaw (Mindanao Strength) described her presence “history being made” because the Vice President hails from Mindanao and the highest government official to ever grace the roundtable discussion of the group.
“When people see government officials working with integrity, professionalism, and dedication to public service—they no longer see sense in causes that espouse violence,” Duterte added.
She said the peace in Mindanao would remain to be on top of the Mindanao agenda, and “the Mindanao Agenda is a Philippine Agenda.”
She said Mindanao “continues to hold so much promise; I know this for a fact being a Mindanawon myself.”
“Mindanao had been considerably quiet for quite a time now,” she said, adding that after the signing of the peace agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government in 2014, “there have been no major wars in Mindanao.”
“We have been told that there’s a time for everything. I believe it’s ‘peace harvest season’ for us now in Mindanao,” she said.
“The seeds of peace that you have planted all these years, the seeds of peace watered by the blood of Filipino martyrs who fought against each other, the seeds of peace nurtured by your sacrifices and bravery and that undying fire I see in your eyes—they have grown and their flowers now in bloom,” she said.
She said that “after all, as we all know already, it takes many years and many wars and countless lives of armed fighters, soldiers, and civilians—all of them Filipinos—to grow peace, watch it bloom, and celebrate its glory.”
Kaloy Manlupig, chairman of Kusog Mindanaw said “today and tomorrow we will collectively draw a picture of the current state of Mindanao, identify and discuss issues closest to our hearts, and plot the steps forward. I said collectively because all of us here are significant resource persons.”
“We look forward to two a meaningful and fruitful days of discussions and discernment of our shared aspirations, dreams and hopes for Mindanao and for our country as we celebrate our unity amidst our diversity,” he said.