Rizal kin back Noy peace quest

MANILA, Philippines - The descendants and relatives of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal expressed their support for the Aquino administration in its quest for a lasting peace in the country, great grandniece Vilma Marie Villaruz said this week.

“The Rizal family supports the nation’s quest for peace. I’m sure a legacy of peace is one of Lolo Pepe’s (Jose Rizal) aspiration for the Philippines,” Villaruz declared during last Wednesday’s fun run to celebrate Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary.

Villaruz represented the family as peace ambassador and ran the three-kilometer leg of the fun run organized by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

The event dubbed as “Run Rizal” was part of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines’ year-long line-up of activities to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Rizal.

“It’s heartwarming. It’s a fun way to show our respect for Rizal, whom we all know had pursued the ways of peace until his last breath,” OPAPP’s Institutional Partnerships Unit director Carmel Pami-Ulanday said.

Ulanday and about a hundred OPAPP employees took part in the fun run along Roxas Boulevard that started near the historic Rizal Park.

Director Noelle Protasio of the Peace Integration Unit, Director Antonio Florida of the Finance and Administration Services, and Director Polly Michelle Cunanan of the Communications Group were also on hand to oversee the activity.

The top three finishers of the 5K, 10K and 16K legs were awarded Peace Month 2011 shirts by Ulanday.

For all runners, OPAPP gave away peace merchandise like “I am for Peace” ballers and button pins.

The month of September is being celebrated as National Peace Consciousness Month by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 675 issued in 2004.

The proclamation enjoins and encourages all government agencies and instrumentalities to initiate and participate in relevant and meaningful activities to instill greater public consciousness and understanding of the meaning of the culture of peace as well as the comprehensive peace process.

Other activities lined up for Peace Month 2011 were “Ka-peace-tahan” celebrating the International Day of Peace at the Glorietta Activity Center on Sept. 21 and the Rock for Peace, a concert featuring the country’s top bands like Radioactive Sago Project, Urbandub and Taken by Cars at the Eastwood Central Plaza in Libis, Quezon City.