A JOURNEY to peace process must include the voice of women in the community.
This was underscored in the Journey of Peace from Davao to Oslo and Back held Tuesday at 8th floor, Blue Building, Ateneo de Davao University.
Women from different sectors in the community joined the forum Tuesday led by Women's Alliance for True Change (Watch) and the Ateneo Public Interest and Legal Advocacy (Apila) Center entitled "A Journey to Peace: From Davao to Oslo and Back.
Former Gabriela representative Luzviminda Ilagan, said in the forum that women should consider the implication of the peace agreements between the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in their lives.
Ilagan said that half of the Philippine population and 44 percent of the services sector with large number of the contract of service status belong to women.
Ilagan added that with the upcoming talks on the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio Economic Reforms (Caser), women's agenda on expansion of health services for women, increased budget for health and strengthened laws on Violence Against Woman and Children (RA 9262), Magna Carta on Women and land reform issues among issues of women should be considered as the meat of the talks.
Member of the GRP peace panel, lawyer Angela Librado, the only woman in the panel said that women's role in the succeeding rounds of talks is very important, and that demands and needs of women sector must be properly addressed as part of the constituency.
"One woman is never enough. We are not supposed to be guests (in the continuing peace negotiations)," Librado said that women should participate on venues where peace process is discussed.
Librado said that in the same forum both parties last August 20-27 agreed in the substantive past agreements, documentation of identification of Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (Jasig), and the accelerated process of the agreement.
Librado added that in 60 days they are set to craft the parameters of the coordinated or bilateral ceasefire that the groups will agree in the peace agreement, adding that the current indefinite ceasefire does not fully guarantee that there will be non commission of violations in each side.
Librado said that NDFP consultant Wilma Tiamzon already said that they will not allow the full implementation of the lasting ceasefire once the Caser will not be materialized.
Ma. Victoria Maglana of Konsenysa Davao said that apart from the negotiations, a challenge of realization of the peace agreements is a challenge not just for every women but all the Filipino people who must find themselves as partners of the peace process to be able to find substance on why they should participate in the implementation process.
"If we fail in expanding the base support in the peace talks magbaha ang problema sa implementation," Maglana said, underlining that 47 years of civil war between two parties, and injustices done along with it are predicted to cause a heavy weight on the impending implementation of the final peace agreement.