Bus for peace kicks off in Baguio City
MALCOLM SQUARE, BAGUIO – The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) together with its various peace partners, officially launched the “Peace Buzz: Biyaheng Kapayapaan” – a peace caravan unifying peace awareness promotion and education activities in commemoration of International Peace Day and this year’s National Peace Consciousness Month.
To welcome the arrival of the Peace Buzz, the Regional Development Council of the Cordillera Administrative Region (RDC-CAR) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC), along with the Baguio Bikers Association and the residents of the City of Pines have gathered at the Upper Session road to join the motorcade of the bus, which traversed the city’s major thoroughfares and concluded in Malcolm Square, Thursday morning.
Undersecretary Nabil Tan, the deputy presidential adviser on the peace process, said that the bus is symbolic in a lot of ways.
“Ang inaasam-asam ng gobyerno natin na magkaroon ng totality of development, na magkaroon ng peace throughout the country. That is why this bus will travel from one point from the north to the south, we will be carrying the message of peace,” Tan said.
(The government is longing for the totality of development and that there would be peace throughout the country.)
Likewise, Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who has vigorously supported Cordillera’s peace and development movement, expressed the region’s aspiration for self-determination and calls upon his people’s support for peace in the region.
“All of us Cordillerans are coequals of our own rights, and that should be a mandate that you and I should continue to exercise because it is only when we take each other as coequals that we do contribute to peace and order in our respective areas,” Mayor Domogan stated.
Prior to the arrival of the bus, a group of Cordillera elders performed traditional prayer rituals in Mt. Data, Mountain Province to bless the Peace Buzz’ journey from Cordillera down to its next stop in Quezon City.
Furthermore, to convey the Cordillera people’s solidarity with Marawi citizens in time of crisis, an interfaith peace prayer, framed and laced with indigenous materials, was dedicated by the indigenous community and diverse religious sector. The Peace Buzz will deliver it to its final stop in Iligan City, in time for the closing of the peace month on October 1.
As a send-off, RPOC members tied the Cordillera coat of arms around the Peace Buzz and invited visitors to an Igorot community dance to celebrate the success of uniting together for peace. A form of a prayer performed with gangsa during festivities, the dance is also an expression of oneness and unity among the community.
Through the theme “Puso Para sa Kapayapaan, Magkaisa Para sa Bayan”, OPAPP placed highlight on the people’s passion for peace and their efforts in working together amidst diversity.
The Peace Buzz will now proceed to Quezon City for the ringing of the World Peace Bell tomorrow. It will then lead the peace month activities of Legazpi, Catbalogan, Butuan, Davao and Cotabato. The culminating activity will be held in Iligan City on October 1.
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