A Department for Peace Toward a Nonkilling Philippines

“Urgent need to establish the Department for Peace” was published by CGNK Governing Council member Jose “Pepe” Abueva in the The Bohol Chronicle weekly newspaper on June 1, 2014. Abueva suggests a number of institutional proposals to advance nonkilling in the the Philippines.

Urgent need to establish the Department for Peace

To promote and achieve a peaceful and nonkilling Philippines as a national goal, I have proposed declaring a peaceful and nonkilling (or killing-free) Philippines as a national goal, and establish a Department for Peace for the purpose.

On the initiative of our Movement for a Nonkilling Philippines started in 2009, we were able to persuade Senate President Manuel B. Villar to introduce his Senate Bill 2482. After him, Senator Cynthia Aguilar Villar sponsored the bill. But the bill has not been passed for lack of support from President B.S. Aquino and other leaders, national and local, whose support we have solicited.

On May 15, when Senator Grace Poe was the guest of honor in the Diamond Jubilee celebration of The Bohol Chronicle, I wrote her a strong appeal to champion a bill establishing the proposed Department for Peace. I sought to inspire her by the initiative of Governor Edgar M. Chatto and Vice-Governor Concepcion Lim and the Bohol Sangguiniang Panlalawigan to establish the Bohol Nonkilling Society. They are the first leaders and Bohol is the first province to promote the goal of a nonkilling province and Philippines.

In the House of Representatives, I am appealing to Representative Ma. Leonor G. Robredo to champion the same bill in support of our national Movement for a Nonkilling Philippines. I appeal to our three Bohol Representatives to support her sponsorship.

A Very Strong Rationale and Justification: to promote and achieve a peaceful and nonkilling Philippines as a national goal, and establish a Department for Peace for the purpose.

Whereas: “imploring the aid of Almighty God” it is the national vision in the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines for the Nation-State “to build a just and humane society” and “secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace….” Preamble;

Whereas: “The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations.” Article II. Declaration of Principles. Section 2.

Whereas: violence, torture, cruel and unusual punishment, and the killing of human beings cause incalculable human loss and suffering, and are thus prohibited by law and our religions, and are sought to be punished;

Whereas: a life-sustaining, nonviolent, and a nonkilling or killing-free Filipino society is a desirable vision and a measurable goal to strive for and achieve for the common good;

Whereas: Principle 13 of the Charter for a World Without Violence adopted by the Nobel Peace Laureates in 2007 calls for “the right of everyone not to be killed and the responsibility not to kill others”;

Whereas: contrary to what may be conventional wisdom, the killing of human beings is not inherent in human nature, and in fact most peoples, including Filipinos, never kill a human being in their whole lifetime; otherwise, the human population would not be continually increasing as it has;

Whereas: the killing of human beings, likened to a disease by the World Health Organization, can be prevented, mitigated, reduced, or even stopped under certain conditions; or can be spread and worsened under other conditions, such as when killers are often not apprehended, tried, and punished, or when they enjoy virtual impunity for their crime;

Whereas: the Philippines is now one of an increasing number of countries around the world whose writers, artists, journalists, scholars, scientists, religious, and other citizens and leaders are now engaged in building nonkilling societies and thereby also a nonkilling world

Whereas: the recording, monitoring, and mapping of the killing of human beings in the Philippines, for various reasons or causes, leave much to be desired: so that Filipinos do not know the true incidence of different kinds of violence and killings in various parts of the country and the entire country from year to year;

Whereas: serious efforts to prevent, discourage and reduce violence and various kinds of killings, and to punish their perpetrators, are hampered or obstructed by lack of reliable information and knowledge about their incidence and their probable causes and attendant conditions;

WHEREFORE: Senate or House Bill No.___ is hereby proposed: Declaring a Peaceful, Life-Sustaining, and Nonkilling Philippines as a National Goal, and Establishing a Department for Peace for the Purpose.

Section 1. National Goal and Policy. It shall be the national goal and policy of the Republic of the Philippines:
(1) To aim for a peaceful, life-sustaining, and nonkilling Philippines as a national goal to be promoted by the whole nation, led by National Government, and with the active cooperation and support of all local governments and citizens;

(2) To promote nonkilling, peace-building, peace-making, and the nonviolent resolution of conflicts;

(2) To develop and support suitable programs to encourage and assist research, education, training, advocacy, policy-making, and action to promote a life-sustaining, peaceful, and nonkilling Philippines;

(3) To set up, maintain and publish the Philippine Index of Killing and Nonkilling as a periodic recording, monitoring, and mapping of the incidence of violence and killings, as well as of nonviolence and nonkilling, in various parts of the country and the entire archipelago;

(4) To provide suitable incentives and rewards for those provinces and regions that excel in developing peaceful and nonkilling communities; and assist and encourage those communities that experience more violence and killings in order to alleviate and improve their condition; and

(5) To encourage and support collaboration among like-minded writers, artists, journalists, scholars, scientists, religious, and other citizens and leaders, and local and international organizations and institutions that aim to build killing-free societies and a peaceful and nonkilling world.

Section 2. Establishment of the Department for Peace. To promote the national goal of a peaceful, life-sustaining, and nonkilling Philippines, the Department for Peace is hereby established. Under the direction and control of the President of the Philippines, the Department shall plan and implement the national goal and policy stated above with suitable programs and other means available, and with funding from appropriations, donations, and internal and external assistance. The Secretary for Peace shall be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments of Congress.