MikeLigalig.com

By Rey Anthony Chiu
Philippine Information Agency

Wanting to gain insights about the successful Bohol peace initiatives, peace advocates here play host as the National Security Council (NSC) and regional leaders as they converge in Bohol for the Central Visayas launching of the Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA) August 23-24.

The LPSA is a series of consultations in different regions of the country and Bohol hosts first gathering in the country.

According to sources from Malacanang, the Bohol assembly would gather the biggest cabinet cluster on national security at 16 secretaries and chairpersons led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, other cabinet secretaries and officials, regional representatives, the regional peace and order council members, religious, business sector, representatives of the academe and the local chief executives.
 
In fact, the seriousness of government business in Bohol merits the presidential presence as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is expected in Bohol next week, reports Capitol media head Antonieto Pernia.

This as the government pursues a two-pronged approach into peace building: by giving the iron fist on hard-on criminals and terrorists while hugging local rebels to the negotiation table to talk peace.

With the escalation of hostilities in Sulu and Basilan, the NSC also found the assembly timely as the NSC reiterated its broad support for the President's affirmation of the prime importance of preserving the ceasefire and at the same time, advancing the peace process.

With the highly rated Bohol experience of drastically reducing the local insurgents through a convergence of efforts and resources, the NSC commended the province and gets the Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA) here Aug. 23-24. The same activity would rotate in areas in the country where peace advocacy gets a strong hold.

According to sources from the Department of Interior and Local Government, one precondition for the venue of the LPSA is the existence of communist insurgency, the number of rebels desiring to rejoin the mainstream and the local initiatives to resolve conflict, pursue normalcy and spur development in the area. 

A source from the provincial peace and order council (PPOC) said, Bohol has already some 185 rebel returnees wanting to rejoin the folds of the law since it opened the negotiation table after organizing the Local Peace Forum here.

Bohol has relatively subdued the four local insurgency fronts into a single fighting unit while the local chief executive along with government agencies has pursued on-going peace initiatives and local development programs relentlessly.

At the LPSA here in Bohol, the government hopes to identify the peculiar problems caused by insurgency and its socio-economic costs to the local community, determine the action agenda and craft the resolution that would resolve the problems as well as name the core leadership who will manage the intervention towards peaceful re-entry of people to normalcy.

Moreover, the LPSA would also allow a venue to present to regional participants models for conflict resolutions, livelihood and development programs, social justice efforts, challengers and the roles played by local leaders which may be replicated in their areas.


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