Ketua International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) Hyun Sook Yoon berpartisipasi dalam ‘Philippine National Peace Conference’ yang pertama di Philippines International Convention Center (PICC) dan memberikan pidato yang mengatakan bahwa “Menetapkan 24 Januari sebagai Hari Perdamaian Nasional akan memainkan peran yang sangat penting dalam menyebarkan dan membangun perdamaian di Filipina.”
Tahun ini ‘Philippine National Peace Conference’ yang pertama diselenggarakan oleh Volunteer Individuals for Peace (VIP, perwakilan Dr. Ronald Adamat). Bagian pertama adalah sesi pleno yang diisi oleh 1.500 orang termasuk anggota parlemen, rektor universitas, guru, tokoh pemuda dan perempuan, tokoh agama, pejabat pers, dan banyak lagi. Setelah itu, para peserta dibagi menjadi beberapa sesi. Women’s Session merupakan diskusi panel dengan tema ‘Peran Penting Perempuan Sebagai Mitra Perdamaian Berkelanjutan’ yang dimoderatori oleh Maria Timbol, Presiden Dewan Perempuan Kapalong. Hyun Sook Yoon, Ketua IWPG; Myrna Yao, Presiden Federasi Dewan Wanita Lokal Filipina; dan Cecilia Gascon, Presiden Universitas Negeri Bulacan, berpartisipasi sebagai panelis.
Pembawa acara menjelaskan bahwa tujuan ditetapkannya ‘Hari Perdamaian Nasional’ adalah untuk memperingati berakhirnya perang 40 tahun antara pemerintah Filipina dan rakyat Moro di Mindanao—yang menyebabkan 120.000 kematian—melalui ‘Perjanjian Perdamaian Sipil’ dipimpin oleh Man Hee Lee, Ketua Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) pada 24 Januari 2014, dan dilanjutkan dengan semangat perdamaian.
Sejak Perjanjian Perdamaian ditandatangani pada Januari 2014, IWPG juga telah mendirikan Cabang IWPG di 5 wilayah di Filipina (Manilla, Maguindanao, del Norte, Pasig, Quezon), dan telah melakukan berbagai kegiatan seperti melatih pemimpin perdamaian perempuan dan menunjuk Duta Publisitas IWPG. September lalu, ‘ Monumen Kegiatan Perdamaian IWPG’ yang pertama didirikan di daerah Davao de Oro.
Dalam Women’s Session, Ketua Yoon mengatakan, “Perdamaian tidak dibuat oleh orang lain, itu harus dibuat dengan upaya para pemimpin perempuan yang berpengaruh.” Beliau mendesak para pemimpin perempuan untuk mengangkat suara mereka dalam mendukung Hari Perdamaian Nasional dan Deklarasi Perdamaian dan Penghentian Perang (Declaration of Peace and the Cessation of War/ DPCW).
Myrna Yao, Presiden Dewan Perempuan Lokal Federasi Filipina mengatakan, “Presiden perempuan Filipina pertama membuat undang-undang untuk perempuan, sehingga perempuan juga harus menikmati kebebasan melalui kegiatan ekonomi. Perempuan memiliki pekerjaan dalam rumah tangga, tetapi mereka juga harus keluar dan bertindak sebagai anggota masyarakat.”
Cecilia Gascon, Presiden Bulacan State University, memberikan pidato mengatakan, “Pendidikan Perdamaian diperlukan untuk perdamaian yang berkelanjutan, dan perempuan harus mendapatkan pendidikan terlebih dahulu. Selanjutnya, anak-anak kita, masa depan, harus mengenyam pendidikan. Perdamaian yang dimulai dalam keluarga menyebar ke masyarakat dan negara. Perdamaian dan ekonomi saling berkaitan, dan Filipina tidak ketinggalan dalam hal indeks perdamaian di Asia. Dari segi PDB, negara-negara yang damai juga menopang PDB mereka. Jadi ekonomi dan perdamaian saling berkaitan.”
Melalui acara ini, Filipina mampu menyusun peta jalan persatuan nasional berdasarkan perdamaian melalui debat dengan para pemimpin dari berbagai bidang dan latar belakang. IWPG percaya bahwa ini akan menjadi awal langkah Filipina untuk menjadi negara yang memimpin perdamaian di seluruh dunia.
International Women’s Peace Group(IWPG) Chairwoman Hyun Sook Yoon participated in the ‘1st Philippines National Peace Conference’ at the Philippines International Convention Center(PICC) and gave a speech saying that “Designating January 24 as National Peace Day will play a very important role in spreading and establishing peace in the Philippines.”
This year’s ‘1st Philippine National Peace Conference’ was hosted by Volunteer Individuals for Peace(VIP, representative Dr. Ronald Adamat). The first part was a plenary session filled with 1,500 people including lawmakers, university presidents, teachers, youth and women leaders, religious leaders, press officials, and more. After that, the participants broke up into different sessions. The Women’s Session was a panel discussion on the theme of ‘The Important Role of Women as Partners for Sustainable Peace’, moderated by Maria Timbol, the President of Kapalong Council of Women. Hyun Sook Yoon, Chairwoman of IWPG, Myrna Yao, President of the Philippine Federation of Local Council of Women, and Cecilia Gascon, President of Bulacan State University, participated as panelists.
The host of the event explained that the purpose of designating the ‘National Peace Day’ is to commemorate the end of the 40-year-war between the Philippine government and the people of Moro in Mindanao—which caused 120,000 deaths—through a ‘Civil Peace Treaty’ led by Man Hee Lee, the Chairman of Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light(HWPL) on Jan 24, 2014, and continue on with the spirit of peace.
Since the Peace Treaty was signed in Jan 2014, IWPG has also established IWPG Branches in 5 regions in the Philippines (Manilla, Maguindanao, del Norte, Pasig, Quezon), and has been conducting various activities such as training women peace leaders and appointing IWPG Publicity Ambassadors. Last September, the ‘1st IWPG Peace Activity Monument’ as erected in the Davao de Oro area.
In the Women’s Session, Chairwoman Yoon said, “Peace is not made by someone else, it must be made by the efforts of influential women leaders.” She urged women leaders to raise their voices in support of the National Peace Day and the Declaration of Peace and the Cessation of War(DPCW).
Myrna Yao, President of the Philippine Federation of Local Council of Women, said, “The first Philippine female president legislated a law for women, so women should also enjoy freedom through economic activity. Women have a job within the household, but they must also go out and act as members of society.”
Cecilia Gascon, President of Bulacan State University, gave a speech saying, “Peace Education is needed for sustainable peace, and women must first receive education. Next, our children, the future, should receive education. Peace that starts within the family spreads to the community and country. Peace and economy are connected, and Philippines is not far behind when it comes to the peace index in Asia. In terms of GDP, countries that have peace also sustained their GDP. So economy and peace are connected.”
Through this event, Philippines was able to draw out a nationally unified roadmap based on peace through debates with leaders of various fields and backgrounds. IWPG believes that this will be the start of Philippines going one step further to become the country that leads peace all around the world.
