'Yes for Peace' goes online

MANILA, Philippines - Amidst the deepening crisis in the peace process brought about by the massacre of 19 soldiers by suspected rogue rebels, the Yes for Peace – Bayanihan para sa Kapayapaan went online to mark the 55th anniversary of the United Nations.

The Peace Wall, a blogsite created by the the Office the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) to gather from different stakeholders their views and opinions on the nation’s peace process, describes Yes for Peace as “an inter-agency peace education campaign targeted to 18 million students from Grade 4 to fourth year high school.”

Ernesto Alcanzare, lead organizer of Yes for Peace, intimated, “The interactive online component complements and perhaps hastens the conduct of the paper and ink campaign among pupils and students in all public elementary and high schools as well as their parents and relatives.”

“Visitors to www.yesforpeace.info may volunteer as coordinators in school divisions and districts where they reside and donate questionnaires and other materials needed to reach as many Filipinos as possible,” he added. 

Earlier, President Aquino said, “We must revive the peace process on the basis of a comprehensive understanding of the root causes of the conflict, under clear policies that pave and clear the way ahead, and driven by a genuine desire to attain a just and lasting peace. We shall endeavor to restore confidence in the peace process that is transparent and participatory, and renew our faith in our shared vision of a peaceful, secure and prosperous future under one sovereign flag.”

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño, who helped draft the questions, said, “We have chosen to launch the electronic component of Yes for Peace during the celebration of the founding of the UN to underscore that the human rights and International Humanitarian Law referred to by Yes for Peace is what the UN General Assembly has adopted.”

The Philippine Postal Corporation has continuously been receiving responses to Yes for Peace since it adopted the campaign.