South Cotabato’s Kalayaan Angat Peace Center in Barangay Tinongcop, Tantangan, also serves as the halfway house for former rebels. (Photo by Danilo E. Doguiles/PIA 12)
KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato (PIA) — The Provincial Government of South Cotabato and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) have recently opened the Kalayaan Angat Peace Center in South Cotabato.
The Kalayaan Angat Peace Center, the fifth facility of this kind in the Philippines, was inaugurated on Sept. 27 alongside the Former Rebel and Former Violent Extremist Summit.
The Kalayaan Angat Peace Center serves as a hub for activities, programs, and other interventions that would promote peace, reconciliation, and unity in the Philippines under the OPAPRU-led Localized Peace Engagement-Transformation Program (LPE-TP).
“Ito ay isang patunay ng ating iisang pagnanais na bumuo ng mga kumunidad na payapa, matatag at progresibo,” Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said in a message read by Executive Director for Local Conflict Transformation Cesar de Mesa.
(This is proof of our shared desire to build peaceful, resilient, and progressive communities.
With P5-million fund support from the OPAPRU, the peace center will also serve as a peace knowledge and learning hub, providing resources, training, and support for the province’s peacebuilding efforts.
“Ang Kapayapaan Angat Peace Center ay hindi lamang isang pisikal na pasilidad; higit sa lahat ito ay magsisilbing mekanismo na kung saan tayo ay babalangkas at magsasagawa ng mga polisiya, programa, at aktibidad na tutulong sa ating mga former rebels (FRs), o friends rescued, na matagumpay na makakabalik sa kanilang kumunidad bilang mapayapa at produktibong miyembro ng lipunan,” Galvez pointed out in his message.
(The Kapayapaan Angat Peace Center is not just a physical facility; above all, it will serve as a mechanism through which we will formulate and implement policies, programs, and activities that will help former rebels or friends rescued, successfully reintegrate into their communities as peaceful and productive members of society.)
Situated in the province’s halfway house for former rebels at the Animal Production and Processing Center in Tinongcop, Tantangan, the center will also be a venue for strengthening dialogue, understanding, and unity between former rebels and the community.
“Sa pamamagitan nito, ang mga representante ng iba’t ibang ahensiya ng pamahalaang nasyunal, lokal na pamahalaan, at mga residente mismo ang tutulong sa ating mga former rebel upang tuluyang talikuran ang armadong karahasan, tahakin ang landas ang landas ng kapayapaan at magsimula ng isang bagong buhay,” Galvez said.
(Through this center, representatives from national and local governments will assist former rebels in the process of abandoning armed violence, pursuing peace, and starting a new life.)
Meanwhile, Sonia Bautista, provincial social welfare and development officer and Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) head of secretariat, confirmed that the OPAPRU has already transferred P5 million to the provincial government for the implementation of programs and activities that would benefit the FRs.
Bautista said that the FRs will get nearly P2 million from the transferred fund for livelihood support.
She also emphasized that Gov. Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr.’s unwavering commitment to promoting FR welfare aligns with the establishment of a peace center in South Cotabato.
The other peace centers across the country are in the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, and Aurora. (DED – PIA Region 12)