On September 20-24, the Bangsamoro Peace Institute (BPI) of the Ministry of Public Order and Safety (MPOS), with the support of the Australian Embassy in the Philippines and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Philippines, conducted the BPI Training Class for its 5th cohort at Acacia Hotel, Davao City. In celebration of this year’s National Peace Consciousness Month, the 5th cohort embarked in a series of lectures, plenary talk, workshops and structured activities to strengthen capacities and integrate efforts of both Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and security sector working in the mainland of Bangsamoro region.
For the said cohort, 17 CSO members and 16 PNP personnel from the mainland provinces of the Bangsamoro region were gathered in a series of peacebuilding sessions, focusing on how they can assist and collaborate in the upcoming 2025 elections through their action plans.
For Hussein P. Muñoz, Minister of MPOS, political stability is one of the broader goals of the Bangsamoro Peace Process. “𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘸, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭,” he said.
Atty. Jamal Latiph, an election lawyer who has served in the Commission on Elections, discussed the importance of CSOs and security sectors in promoting peacebuilding efforts and in the preservation of peace and order during the electoral process.
One of the highlights of the training was the chance to interact with Atty. Joyce E. Moran of Commission on Election (COMELEC) BARMM, Atty. Mehrab U. Bahri of the office of MP Atty. Sha-Elijah B. Dumama-Alba, and Atty. Al-Rashid L. Balt, Director-General of MPOS during plenary talk. The plenary speakers provided updates, initiatives, and insights into important topics surrounding elections, political parties, and peacebuilding. When asked if we are prepared for the upcoming 2025 elections, they responded with a confident ”yes”.
Furthermore, Mr. Absanie R. Taurac of Coalition of Moro Youth Movement (CMYM), shared his insight. “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘕𝘗 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢
,” he said.
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” PMAJ Abdulnasser Manan, of Lanao del Sur Police Provincial Office, one of the cohort members said in a sharing session.
Moreover, Dr. Judith De Guzman, Peacebuilding Project Manager of UNDP Philippines, gave her message of support during the closing of the BPI training, “𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘗𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰,” she said.
Ending the three-day training was a closing remarks delivered by Ms. Sittie Janine M. Gamao, Chief of the Peace Education Division, MPOS BARMM, “𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦; 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘐𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘢 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘰𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘯,” she said.
The Ministry through the BPI aimed to create a network of peacekeepers, peacemakers and peacebuilders in the region to share and facilitate knowledge to maintain the peace process as well as enhance collective efforts in advocating for safe and fair elections. It is also a venue for synergistic partnership between the Ministry, law enforcement agencies and civil society organizations in ensuring a safe and peaceful Bangsamoro.
