THE Mindanao Commission on Women recently launched a “Women’s Peace Table” signifying Mindanao women’s desire to take part in peace negotiations.
MCW chair emerita and chief executive officer Irene M. Santiago said the “Women’s Peace Table” aims to connect the formal peace negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the women not only in Mindanao but also the rest of the country.
Santiago said they want to convey to the two panels that Mindanao women are “eager to participate in the negotiations as a vital actor and to be a partner in the tremendous task of post-war reconstruction and recovery.”
She explained that the peace table intends to serve as a third table that will “harness women’s tremendous capacities to generate many alternatives, mediate, mobilize, and educate for peace.”
“And because peace is a national concern, the Women’s Peace Table is a national table, open to all women who yearn for and are willing to work for peace,” she stated.
Santiago raised the important role of women in the peace negotiation undertakings, saying “We know that women have the capacity and the commitment to be a significant actor to bring about a sustained and just peace in Mindanao.”
She lauded the recent announcement of the Philippine Government Panel and the MILF to hold a substantive discussion in January next year.
“We rejoice in this positive direction the two parties are taking. Women have suffered too long and too much,” she said.
The “Women’s Peace Table” was formally launched on December 8 in time for MCW’s 10th year anniversary celebration that featured the Kamindanawan, an annual Mindanao women’s congress.
Anchoring on MCW’s slogan and goal “for women to be taken seriously,” the congress carried the theme: “Women. Seriously!” [PIA 11/CARINA L. CAYON/MCW]
