GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – Arnel Pineda, the Filipino frontman of American rock band Journey, sang for peace and turned over a set of medical equipment donated by the United Nations for a health center in a village affected by the armed conflict between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Pineda was assisted by Diosita Andot, program manager of Government of the Philippines-United Nations Act for Peace Program and Mayor Pedro Acharon in turning over P80,000 worth of medical equipment to officials of Barangay San Jose, one of the communities affected by heightened armed encounters between the military and MNLF fighters in the 1970s. Most of the residents left the village at that time but returned when the skirmishes stopped.
The barangay was declared one of the city’s peace and development communities during Phase 3 of the GOP-United Nation Multi-Donor Program (UNMDP) implementation. The declaration was affirmed by the council through a resolution.
The STAR learned from Andot that the health center was built through the assistance of the UNMDP Phase 3 in coordination with city officials.
Aside from the medical facilities, Pineda also extended personal assistance to the village, which is suffering from high rate of malnutrition.
“I am happy that I was able to provide some help in Mindanao. This is for peace in Mindanao. I hope the fighting in Mindanao stops,” Pineda told The STAR after the turnover ceremony.
In the evening, Pineda performed at the “Panaghoy sa Kalinaw” concert held at the KCC Mall convention center with local bands from Sarangani, South Cotabato and General Santos City.
The concert was supported by the UN-Act for Peace Program and organized by the Kapayapaan Kapatid Council (KKC), Socsargen Peace Network, ABS-CBN, Kapisanan ng mga Brodcaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), Mindanao State University (MSU) and Habitat for Humanity.
It aims to provide educational supplies to hundreds of school children affected by the armed conflict between the military and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Sarangani in previous months.
Pineda rose to international fame when videos of his band were discovered on YouTube by a member of the band Journey.