ARCHBISHOP Fernando R. Capalla, head convenor of the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC), proposed that religious groups be given roles in monitoring the peace process in Mindanao.
The Davao-based former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that government on its own cannot solve all the conflicts of society and should partner with civil society.
Capalla did not specify whether he meant the International Monitoring Team (IMT) under the Comprehensive Peace Process in Mindanao and comprises Malaysia, Brunei, Libya and Japan, or the separate International Contact Group (ICG), which also has a civil society component.
The IMT's primary role is to monitor ceasefires in conflict-affected areas of Mindanao.
But Capalla made it clear that ceasefires or infrastructures "are not necessarily the equivalent of peace.”
Admitting that he comes from the perspective of a cleric, he added that governments must also look after the emotional needs or trauma of victims of conflicts.
Capalla said the BUC will present six key issues, which "would make interfaith dialogue an instrument for lasting peace.”
These are dehumanization, impersonalism, communism, socialism, social disorder, irreligion or faithlessness, and development aggression or anti-culturalism. (PIA)