Thousands gather in Manila for global peace festival

Thousands of peace activists gathered yesterday at the Quirino Grandstand at the Rizal Park in Manila for the launching of the Global Peace Festival.

Ursula McLackland, secretary general of the event organizer Universal Peace Federation (UPF), said the Philippines was chosen as the venue for the launching of the festival because of the country’s peace-loving citizens who cherish their families and uphold family values.

“The Philippines can be a model for the world. It promotes the family as the foundation for peace. It is in the family where the values necessary for peace building are learned,” she said.

“We believe peace begins within the individual and then extends to our family, the society, the nation and the world,” she added.

More than 200,000 students, teachers, and leaders of the government and civil society groups joined the event.

A highlight of the program was the universal prayer of peace, which stated: “We are one family, brothers and sisters regardless of skin color, nationality, or religion. We are one family under one God.”

Before the event at the Quirino Grandstand, a parade was held involving 20,000 representatives of participating organizations.

UPF Philippines secretary-general Celestino Jose Navalta Jr. said one of the ways to achieve peace is by living for the sake of others.

He said peace is possible if people will always consider the welfare of their fellowmen.

The festival, which runs from Dec. 9 to 13, aims to promote worldwide support for peace-making efforts and for implementing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

The UPF is an international organization dedicated to “building a world of peace in which we live in freedom, harmony, cooperation and co-prosperity.” 

It is a non-government organization in “special consultative status” with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

During his talk the other day, human rights advocate Martin Luther King III expressed admiration for the country’s peaceful EDSA people power revolt in 1986 and urged Filipinos to use the “song of peace” in the fight against poverty in the Philippines.

Speaking at the opening of the International Leadership Conference, King said the Philippines is among the beneficiaries of the triumph of “peace ambassadors.”

“The secret of their success is their unwavering commitment to faith and service. The issue is not whether we can eradicate poverty but whether we have the faith to do so,” he added. – Reinir Padua