Spain gov’t backs PHL peace process

Spain is fully supporting the Philippines’ peace process to address the root causes of insurgency through the implementation of development projects in Northern Samar, once the seat of communist insurgency in the country.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are collaborating in the implementation of the program through the holding of a workshop attended by local government officials from the towns of Silvino Lobos, San Roque and Las Navas, all in Northern Samar.
The workshop, dubbed as Mainstreaming Peace and Development in Local Governance (MPDLG), was designed to prioritize the program for peace and development projects for 2012 and 2013. The venue was in Calbayog City.
The MPDLG was funded by Spain’s Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarrollo.
The MPDLG aims to mainstream peace and development in government systems and processes, and equip local government units with a peace lens to deal in conflict-sensitive matters.
The program will also be linked up with PAMANA or Payapa at Masagang Pamayanan (Peaceful and Resilient Communities), the national government’s program and framework for peace and development in areas affected by conflict and communities covered by existing peace agreements.
The workshop would enable officials identify projects that would help achieve Northern Samar’s vision towards progress.
The Provincial Peace and Order Council and the Provincial Development Council will make the assessment.
Representatives from various sectors who attended the workshop were the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Northern Samar Peace and Development Forum and Youth Formation Institute, the serve as Third Party Monitors for the transparent and accountable implementation of PAMANA.
In 2010 the Spanish government extended a P20-million grant to the Philippines to support a pilot project dubbed as the “Sorsogon Initiative” wherein the people in the community implement by themselves infrastructure projects as part of the government’s peace-building effort to eradicate insurgency in the country. [PNA]