Bishop Felixberto Calang
Convenor, Sowing the Seeds of Peace
July 27, 2020

It is our wish that the President’s SONA may contain even the slightest window of opportunity for the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. We wish, not hope, because the imposition of the Anti-Terrorism Law is the single biggest obstacle to the revival of the peace process.

We renew our call that in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic, there be ‘social distancing’ in the battlefield. This will allow the government to focus its full attention and resources on the people’s health, while also allowing the forces of the National Democratic Front to complement this effort. But it is clear that 4 years into the Duterte Presidency, we see a whole-of-state approach, dominated by military and police generals, to the most pressing issues of our time including the Coronavirus pandemic.

Going into the final stretch of the Duterte government, dreams for an independent foreign policy, genuine land reform, and a just and lasting peace— hatched and launched in Davao City in 2016— have been taken over by anti-democratic, anti-national, and anti-people measures and appear to be the legacy that the President seeks to leave behind.

Bishop Felixberto Calang
Iglesia Filipina Independiente
Diocese of Cagayan de Oro

Convenor, Sowing the Seeds of Peace