CHURCH-BASED Exodus for Justice and Peace (EJP) said Tuesday it will continue to promote respect for human rights, social and civil liberties in communities, as armed conflict still rages in the country sides and its root causes have remained unresolved.
EJP spokesperson Rev. Juri Jaime said in support to the incoming administration under President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) effort to resume peace negotiation, they will continuously campaign for a just and lasting peace.
"Mao ni ang main objective, unsaon jud pagkab-ot sa tinuod nga hisgutanang kalinaw. Kalinaw nga mulahutay jud kay dinhi ginapasabot nga dili kadtong simple lang na ginatawag nila ug in the absence of war, there is peace," Jaime said.
He said EJP has long been campaigning for the resumption of the peace negotiations and the respect for human rights instruments and protocols such as the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Law (Carhril).
The EJP, Jaime said, campaigns strongly in communities locked in an intense struggle for land and survival.
He also said the EJP has committed its full support to the systematic changes in order to genuinely serve the Filipino people for a just and lasting peace.
NDFP spokesperson Fidel Agcaoili, on the other hand, said the peace negotiation aims to prepare people in accepting the New People’s Army (NPA) and the release of their consultants.
"Ipagpatuloy lang ang kanilang (GPH and NDFP) will upang matapos at magkaroon ng kasunduan sa social economic reforms, political constitutional reforms then tiyak na magkakaroon ng kapayapaan," Agcaoili said.
An estimated 40,000 people from different organizations all over Mindanao joined the march rally for lasting peace from Magsaysay Park on Ramon Magsaysay Avenue to Rizal Park on San Pedro Street, Davao City, Tuesday.
The participants of the rally were members of the NPA, lumad groups, farmers, women, urban poor, and the militant groups.
Agcaoili said the event was also to commemorate the first death anniversary of Ka Parago, a rebel leader who was killed in a raid by the military in Barangay Panalum in Paquibato District, Davao City last year.
"Gusto lang naman naming i-honor talaga si Ka Parago na naglingkod para sa sambayanan. Gusto lang naming i-honor siya sa kanyang first death anniversary," Agcaoili said. (Mielin April Salvacion, MSU intern)