A grand peace festival with the theme “We are one for Peace to attain Sustainable Development” will be held in Bocaue, Bulacan on Friday launching the nationwide peace movement throughout the country’s State Universities and Colleges.
This event is expected to have 30,000 participants including social representatives in the Philippines and international peace activists including the organizers – Volunteer Individuals for Peace (VIP) by Dr. Ronald Adamat, CHED’s Commissioner and Mr. Man Hee Lee, Chairman of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), who organized this event as a peace NGO under the UN ECOSOC.
The event will start at 9:00 in the morning until 12NN.
“The highlight of this peace event is to give inspiration of citizen participation in peace building. Cultural performances will represent harmony under peace beyond differences in ethnicity, religion or nationality. Also, the principles of peace-building with civic participation and national support will be introduced – the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW),” said Mr. Ian Seo, General Director, Department of Public Relations, HWPL.
The DPCW addresses principles of conflict resolution and international cooperation for peace building such as prohibition of use of force, peaceful dispute settlement, and spreading a culture of peace through education and citizen activism, within 10 articles and 38 clauses.
As a partnership in promoting a culture of peace between the City Government of Paranaque and HWPL, there will be an inauguration of the “PEACE ROOM” in Paranaque City Public Library where peace education materials will be exhibited to inspire daily visitors.
According to organizers of this project, “peace corner and peace room will be established in different libraries nationwide to raise awareness of peace-building to citizens.
Last January 2018, Commissioner of Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and HWPL signed an MOU to promote peace education throughout public colleges in the country.
Approved by CHED, peace education together with indigenous people education is now integrated in all Higher Education Institutions nationwide.
“Promoting peace education through the CHED will affect many Philippine educational institutions and play a crucial role in promoting peace in the Philippines,” said Dr. Adamat.
“We should think of how we can achieve peace. It should start by teaching peace to the youths,” emphasized Mr. Lee in his last visit to the Philippines. As a representative of HWPL, Mr. Lee, a Korean peace activist and Korean War veteran will visit in February to advocate global cooperation for peace building.
HWPL, a Seoul-based international NGO under the UN ECOSOC, has internationally engaged in advocating peace building through international law, harmony of religion, and peace education.
Since its foundation in 2013, HWPL has grown exponentially in terms of both supporters and influence worldwide. With peace as its core value, HWPL has operated a number of campaigns and events across the globe to unite individuals from all sectors and levels within the society.
Within a few short years only, HWPL has partnered with citizens and organizations from over a hundred countries in order to promote peace on an international scale, particularly through the advocacy campaigns for an international law based on the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW); an international instrument declared by HWPL last March 14, 2016 in Seoul, Korea which will be submitted to the United Nations. Through the hosting of annual events, such as the World Alliance of Religions’ Peace (WARP) Summit and the Peace Walks commemorating the Declaration of World Peace, HWPL continues to gather additional support from individuals, civil society actors, national leaders, religious leaders, and everyone under the common goal of a world free of war and conflict. With peace and respect for life as its core value, HWPL transcends culture, religion, ideology, and other boundaries to achieve peaceful harmony in the global society. HWPL is committed into bringing world peace and cessation of war.