4thNorthern Mindanao

...learning the ways of peace,

unlearningthewaysofviolence...

Pe
A REPORT ac e
in Divers
ity

Dr. Maria Luisa B. Mutia, CESO V

Schools Division Superintendent
DepED Division of Lanao del Norte
4thNorthern Mindanao

...learning the ways of peace,

unlearningthewaysofviolence...

Pe
a ce ity
in Divers

A REPORT
Dr. Maria Luisa B. Mutia, CESO V
Schools Division Superintendent
DepED Division of Lanao del Norte
 contents
1 | The Least We Can
Do
Organizing the 4th Peace
Village is an honor, writes the
host Division Superintendent
2 | Framework
Peace education framework
aims for “oneness” among tri-
people in Mindanao
3 | Objectives/Teach
Peace Model
Peace Village objectives and
model for teaching peace spelled
out
4-5 | Opening Event
Harmony amid diversity
is dramatized in opening
activities
6 | Hataw
Wake-up call for body and
soul
7 | Shower of Peace
The symbolism behind the
morning shower
8 | Kids Say NO To
Guns ...
Village kids trade in their toy
guns for tree seedlings
9 | ... Say YES To Life
The kids and their mentors
climb up to Dapit Alim to
plant the seedlings
10 | Peace Art
A “gallery” of peace drawings
by Village children
11 | Learning Hubs
Where children go for
curricular and special learning
12 | Celebrating
Diversity
Exploring folkloric themes
through ethnic inspired dances
13-14 | The Way Of
Peace
Reaching out to a sea of young
minds to teach values is
daunting
15 | Peace Colloquy
Teens use formal conversation
to test their peace ideas
16 | Kids Commit To
Peace
Children build a “stock” of
peace values and vow to
uphold them
17 | School-
Community Of Peace
Enriching school-community
plans through workshops
18 | Closing Event
Sec. Jesli A. Lapus leads the
closing of 4th Peace Village
activities - the ground work
for peace begins
19 | Movers & Shakers
The women and men of the
host Division behind the
success of the 4th PV

THE LEAST
WE CAN
DO
Dr. Maria Luisa B. Mutia
You look around and you
see groups of children
bustling about, doing what
children love to do at any
time - have fun and play.
For four days, the children get together,
share hearts and mind, forge friendships,
and take the lead on many occasions.
They look, talk and listen, dance, sing
or act in activities that aim to help them
know the ways of peace and violence.
Welcome to the Peace Village!
For the fourth time in a row, the
DepED Division of Lanao del Norte has
organized and played host to a set of
events making up the Peace Village. The
latest set was held on October 27 – 30,
2008, using again as venue the Mindanao
Civic Center in the capital town of Tubod.
It’s an honor, it’s our pleasure, it’s the
least that we can do for the community
and for the children.
For the Fourth Peace Village, the Division
has mapped out activities that took
guidance from ideas about peace and
violence (which drew, in turn, from
those explored by UNESCO in its studies
on peace education), undergirding the
Village theme: “Learning the ways of
peace, unlearning the ways of violence”.
Here’s how we defined our terms.
Peace is life without violence. Not the
sort of life that sits fragilely in time
between two wars. Peace is not the mere
absence of war. For violence covers far
more than the gross violence that war
1
inflicts. It comes in many ways and
guises, barefaced or subtle, war or no
war. But you’ll know each one of them
by a simple measure: it hits, it hurts, it
harms, it ruins people, young and old, by
choice.
“For the
fourth time There are the violent ways that break
the spirit. They insult, harass, bully,
in a row, coerce, put down, slur, abuse, scorn,
the DepED discriminate, ridicule, label, intrigue, and
Division of more. And then, of course, there are the
Lanao del obvious ways of violence which break the
body. No true peace is possible with all
Norte has of these around.
organized &
played host Peace is living in harmony: harmony
to the Peace in human relations amid diversity
and harmony with nature. The key to
Village. It’s
holding human relations in harmony
an honor, are behaviors and structures that foster
it’s our understanding, respect, tolerance, trust,
pleasure, goodwill, empathy, fairness. We seek
harmony with nature by joining in the
it’s the least
human effort to take care of the earth in
that we can every way.
do for the
community Joining the Village events were more than
three thousand children and mentors
and for the
from the 13 DepEd Divisions in the
children.” northern Mindanao region, with around
2,200 coming from the host Division.
The huts of wood, bamboo and nipa that
were built for the Third Peace Village had
served again as modest abode, awaiting
the children like true home.
This report highlights key moments of
their stay in the Village.

FRAMEWORK
M
indanao is host to some 18
million Filipinos who live off
the island’s rich natural re-
sources. It has been home to Muslims and
indigenous people since the 14th century.
Christians from the country’s other is-
lands started settling in the area since the
16th century and began to predominate in
the 1950s.
So, the Mindanao that we know today is a
land of mixed faith, cultures and beliefs.
Cultural diversity defines and influences
the relationships among the tri-people.
It’s one reality that we Mindanaoans
face, along with some advantages and
disadvantages that come with it.
Cultural differences tend to make it more
complicated and difficult for two groups
of people to know and relate with each
other, or live together in a community. A
cultural and social artifact like language
spoken differently by two cultural
groups, for example, could bar contact
and communication between their
people. You then have a situation that
tends to lend itself to misunderstanding,
mistrust and mutual suspicion,
chauvinism, or animosity.
But the tri-people share the same
fundamental belief in justice,
2
democracy and self-determination.
Peace Education aims to foster the values
and attitudes conducive to living
harmoniously and peacefully
amid cultural diversity. It
seeks to achieve a state of
oneness among the tri-people.
Thus, it works to promote
tolerance, goodwill, and
respect for and understanding
of diversity among young
people. And all these by way
of learning activities that
encourage them to:
y Share stories that foster
understanding, tolerance, and
goodwill - and learn from them;
y Share thoughts and feelings on peace
and its elements in communities of
mixed faith, cultures and beliefs;
y Celebrate similarities and diversity;
y Experience the beauty of music,
arts and crafts, dance and folk tales
borne of different cultures; and
y Play games and compete in sports,
and hone skills and talents in the
process.

OBJECTIVES
T
he key Peace Village activities
have aimed to allow the partici-
pants, both learners and educa-
tors alike, to -
1
Revisit values & attitudes
towards diversity, cultural
differences, tolerance, and human
dignity;
2
Manifest behaviors showing
camaraderie and brotherhood with
fellow participants regardless of culture,
tribe, creed and socio-economic status;
3
Promote the spirit of respect
and understanding of one’s cultural
beliefs in a complex and culturally
diverse society;
4
Develop social interaction
skills to promote peaceful relations
among people of diverse groups and
communities;
5
Demonstrate that there are
alternatives to violence and develop
positive approaches to dealing with
conflicts.
3
TEACH PEACE MODEL
T
ssince
he Peace Village draws insights from a thematic
model for peace education proposed by UNESCO
ince 2001. The model offers ten basic themes
ccovering
overing key values that education hopes to see
developing
d eveloping in children. The themes in quick strokes are
ass follows:
a
11.. Think Positive aims to develop a positive mindset
in children. It works to build a positive self-concept
in oneself and attitudes towards accepting and
appreciating
a ppreciating others.
2
2.. Emphatize is learning to put oneself in the shoes of
o thers, and works to develop compassionate qualities,
others,
llike
ike love, kindness, and friendliness, to counter the
vviolence
iolence in society.
3
3.. Discover Inner Peace helps the learner in discovering
peace of mind; covers ways of understanding self,
ccontrolling
ontrolling emotions, and soothing the mind.
44.. Learn to Live Together is learning to work
harmoniously with others; covers such topics as
ssharing,
haring, mutual help, trust building, taking group
responsibility, leading and following.
5.. Respect Human Dignity tries to develop a
5
cconsciousness
onsciousness that recognizes and respects one’s own
rights and those of others.
6.. Be Your True Self helps acquire the strength of
6
ccharacter
haracter needed to be honest and direct in expressing
one’s
o ne’s needs, feelings and thoughts without letting
others
o thers down.
77.. Develop Critical Thinking aims to develop
problem-solving and decision-making skills, like -
analysis,
a nalysis, syntheses, logical thinking, etc.
8.. Resolve Conflict Non-Violently covers development
8
off conflict resolution skills, like: analyses, negotiation,
o
active
a ctive listening, mediation, problem-solving, etc.
9.. Build Peace in Community exposes children to
9
ssocial
ocial realities. Schools can organize peace-building
projects in the community.
110.
0. Care for the Planet bears directly and immediately on
tthe
he destiny of mankind.
 4

OPENING EVENT

F or the opening activity, the Village

children welcomed their guests with a
grand parade on the oval track of the
Mindanao Civic Center, featuring the peace
advocates from the host and other participating
DepED divisions. The event was like a
showcasing of colors in many varieties, worn by
the children for their indigenous costumes as they
danced past the Village guests.

The scene evokes a quick thought: if all of life’s

hue is but one, whence would beauty come?
Colors blend in harmony and please the eye.
Contrast marks the hues and defines the spectral
elegance of the rainbow.
As in colors, so in cultures: harmony inheres in
diversity.
DepED Assistant Secretary Jonathan E. Malaya (right)
joins the opening event as keynote speaker. Host
Division Superintendent Maria Luisa B. Mutia (middle)
looks on after introducing the guest of honor to Rev.
Fr. Henry Medjo Mvomo (left) from South Africa.
 5

OPENING EVENT

P
eace is their plea for a land marred by violence.
As thousands of children behind her steady
themselves in a body formation that spells the
word “PEACE”, the angelic young girl in pink gestures
her message to the world. She hopes to dramatize
the cry of children for peace and a stop to all forms of
violence.

Who would dare not to listen? War and violence are

untenable if we all dream of richer lives and a better
future for our children. Working for peace acquires
particular urgency. Not apart from the children, but
through the children. The words of Maria Montessori
ring true: “If salvation and help are to come, it is
through the child ; for the child is the builder
of man.”

She is the “promise of mankind.”


HATAW
T
he day in the Village starts at the first break
of dawn, and the children start it right with
Hataw: a warm-up exercise, a wake up call
for body and soul. The name is the Tagalog word
for “to hit something/somebody hard”, usually
with a stick; it has lately come to connote “give it
all you’ve got”. And that is what the children , and
6
their mentors, exactly do as they go through the
well choreographed work-outs every morning,
and gear up for a day of play and fun and learning.
Children are known for the proverbial huge
reserve of energy that lets them do hataw all day
long. As the wise say, play is what childhood is
for. ■
 7

SHOWER OF PEACE

A
lmost all religions around the world use Th
T hen,
enn jejetss of wawateter from
from
fr m a hosossee tr
traiinened upwa
upward
up wa
w ardrds
water in rites to clean the body and purify coome
me po ouu
uririing
n do owwn li likee raiin ssh
hoow wer er ovveer tth
he
the person spiritually. The baptismal water paart
p r ic
iciip
pan
antss. ThThat
Thatat sttaarrtts th
the eea
arl
rly m
rly mo orrnnin
ing rriittu
ual
al of
is used by Christians, for example, to wash away ffu
un aan
nd fr froollicc. T
Thhe shshowoweerr syymmb boolliizes tth he w
wa ash
ash
shing
the “original sin”. In rites of ablution, Muslims away
aw ay of tth he b biias
aseess an ndd prreeju
juddiiceess,, anng ger
er and
nd haattrreed,d,
use water to clean their heads, arms and feet and th
an the lleettttinng in
in of llo ove
ve, co
comp
mpas assision
on, reresp
spec
ect an and
before praying. The Peace Village has adopted the und
un deers
rstatanndding
ing to
in to rereeiig
gnn in th
the he
the heaarrttsss..
symbolic quality of water as a purifying element in
an activity called Shower of Peace. Towa
To wardrds tthhe clclo
ossin
sin
ing rriite
ite
te, th
the ppeeac
ace aad dvo
vocacates
cate
ttees
lliift
ft the
heir
ir hands
aan
ndsds up pwwaarrd aannd of
nd offfeer p
peeacace to o Go od
d,
After doing Hataw, the peace advocates, young and low
lo weer thhem
em to owwards
ard
ar dss the
he eear
arth
ar h an ndd offffeerr peace
eacee tto
ea o
old, gather in a chosen area and form a circle while theem
th mse
selv
selv
lveess, aan
nd ththen
en raaiise
se them
heem on
h onccee mo orre totowa
ward
arrd
ds
holding each other’s hands. A mentor explains to tth
hei
eir ne
neeig
ighb
ig hbo orrs aan
nd o offfe
fer p
peeaacce to
to eeac
aacch
ch one
onne o off
the crowd what the activity means. theem
th m. ■

Top-left to right: Peace to oneself, as shown to children by host Division Superintendent Maria Luisa B. Mutia; Mentor Ms Naimah
S. Tamano explains the activity; students show peace from the heart. Bottom: Frolicking in the shower like in the rain, as if in a ditty
- “The sun’s in my heart/And I’m ready for love/I’m singin’ and dancin’ in the rain”
 8

KIDS SAY NO TO GUNS ...

N
o child is born violent, let alone
a killer. Violence is a behavior
the child acquires depending
on his environment. Although experts
believe that parents and role models
lend the biggest influence in shaping
the child’s values and behavior, other
factors help, too. Mass media is one.
Another is toys. Violent toys induce the
child to play violently. With toy guns,
for example, expect the child to act out
the obvious – “shoot and kill” and have
fun doing it. ‘’The message of toy guns,’’
wrote one professor of psychology, ‘’is
that you solve problems by pulling a
trigger.’’
The Peace Village brings attention to
this issue through an activity called “The
“Kids Say NO To Guns,” which has
formed, in fact, a regular event since
message
the 2nd Northern Mindanao Peace of toy guns
Village. It’s the children’s symbolic way
of shunning toy guns for being what
is that
they are – toys that add no value to kid’s you solve
positive learning and promote unwanted
behavior. For the event, they bring problems
their toy guns with them, trade them in by pulling a
for seedlings from authorities, and join
everybody in trampling upon the toys, to trigger.’’
dramatize a collective condemnation of
war, violence and killings. ■
(2)

(1)
(3)

(6)

“Our duty is to protect

(4)
Muslims, Christians and
Lumads alike.”

(5)

“Center photo: peace advocates trade in their toy guns for

seedlings from military/police authorities. (1) Young children sing
for everybody at the trade-in ceremony ; (2) The toy guns are
gone for good; (3) “Fly on, dove, fly on, spread the message of
peace”; (4) Photo ops the kids’ way; (5) Young peace advocates
organization president sharing his thoughts on peace; (6) Lt. Col.
Agane C. Adriatico, PA, delivers his thoughtful lines on guns,
peace and the military.
 9

... SAY YES TO LIFE

A
s the children say NO to guns,
they say YES to life. Having
traded their toy guns for tree
seedlings, they’re ready for the next step.
It proves to be a 243-step climb up to
Dapit Alim, a place for healing, which sits
on a hill top overlooking Panguil Bay in
Tubod, Lanao del Norte.
There they gather for a dialogue and share
views, stories and observations on how
people are waging war against Mother
Earth through practices that do her harm,
often with irreversible consequences.
Young as they are, they understand
that peaceful living means accepting
responsibility in taking care of the
environment. The children unanimously
declare that peace is living in harmony
with the earth – our one shelter and one
home.
The children have come up with simple
activities and choices that help sustain
the planet; practices they can do at home,
in school and at play. Simple things like
backyard gardening, waste management,
recycling and even those things that
parents usually nag them about (turn
the lights off when not in use; spare the
streets from your candy wrapper; etc.) .
Before trekking down from Dapit Alim,
the children and their mentors have
all planted 100 mahogany seedlings as
peace offering to earth. ■

“Without
realizing it, we
have begun
to wage
war on the
Earth itself.
Now, we and
the Earth’s
climate are
locked in a
relationship
familiar to
war planners:
mutually
Top-left clockwise: The first steps in the long climb up to assured
Dapit-Alim; mentor and child secure the young tree in
place; the lady leads the trekkers to the place of healing - destruction.”
to help heal the earth and oneself. - Al Gore

PEACE ART
T
he Peace Village urges the children
to draw freely as a way of expressing
their feelings about peace, war and
violence. The activity uses an art form as a
tool to bring awareness to the universal issues
of peace and promote peaceful solutions to
conflict. The drawings share a common wish
for a peaceful and better world. Later on,
these are displayed in a “peace art gallery” for
everybody to see and for the “artist” to take
10
pride in.
Sometimes the drawings stir discussions among
the children on the kind of world they wish to
have and the big things their puny selves hope to
do to make it happen. The art gallery connects
the children of mixed cultures through a common
theme. It hopes to make them realize that every
Muslim, Christian and Lumad child wants peace.
 11

LEARNING HUBS

L
earning hubs are the tents in the Village which
the children go to for curricular and special
learning experiences as blended with
peace content. For the Fourth Peace Village, the
hubs are built and attended to by the other
participating DepED Divisions, depending
on their choice of learning area. The
idea is to allow space for children to
explore and discover and learn
with fellow learners, and
enjoy the process.

The hub of Tangub City Division was frequented by young book lovers with its easy reading materials
that the children found enjoyable.

On its own initiative, the

command of the Philippine Army
in the province put up its own
learning hub, complete with a
teaser for the curious - “See Your
Army in Peace”.

The tent houses a still photo

gallery of Army soldiers doing
civic work and runs a DVD
player and monitor showing
movie clips on the same theme.

The Third Peace Village first

saw the ALIVE hub entertaining
young and adult visitors by
treating them to a taste of Muslim
living. ALIVE is short for Arabic
Language and Islamic Values
Education.

The colorful hub ran under the

same theme for the Fourth Peace
Village, offering the chance to
dress, eat, sing and dance like a
real Maranao.

Sec. Jesli A. Lapus gets a taste of Maranao delicacy on his visit to ALIVE hub.

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY
M
indanao is a cradle of
perhaps the country’s richest
and most diverse cultures.
As an island, there are as many
shared similarities as there are unique
distinctions.
The MCC Gymnasium was jam-
packed with Village participants for
the “Cultural Festival”, a night to
celebrate the richness of the Mindanao
culture and an opportunity for cultural
awareness and better understanding
among children of various ethnic
origins. It was also an avenue to
appreciate the traditions and various
12
creative expressions of their ancestors.
Each participating division showcased
the different cultures and traditions that
represent the people in their localities.
The presentation of songs, dances
and rituals has aimed to enhanced
respect and tolerance between and
among children of different ethnic
backgrounds.
The colorful night was an
encouragement for everyone to
examine and better understand their
own culture as well as the cultures of
others. ■
 13

THE WAY OF PEACE

T
he morning of Day 2 in the
Village sees the children
trooping to the MCC gym
for a learning activity about peace
and violence. Joining the Village
mainstays are the learners from the
nearby schools under the host Division,
who filled the gallery almost to the
brim. Doing a learning activity for
thousands of children at the same time
is challenging. It becomes a daunting
one when the activity is focused on
learning values and behavior for a sea
of young minds.
One enemy is boredom, and a good
mix of fun and learning is needed to
foil it. So, the children are treated
to a show, complete with singing,
dancing and rejoicing. The children
joined in with little prodding and
enjoyed themselves. When the
homily is delivered, the children
are all ready to listen. For good
measure, even the songs bear
messages of love, respect and
compassion – the proven ways of
peace. (cont. next page)

Father Rodulfo “Dong” Galenzoga

delivers his homily on peace, love
and compassion for young children
all ready to listen after the singing
and dancing.

THE WAY OF PEACE
L
earning can be entertaining and
memorable if the children can
relate to them through experience.
The Panday Kalinaw, a cultural group
from Cagayan de Oro City, came to
the event ready with several skits to
demonstrate selected ways of violence
and enjoin the children to avoid or
unlearn them. Each skit is a theatrical
sketch of characters and scenes acted
out by the group members, which leaves
a moral for the audience to discern. A
short reflection caps each skit to facilitate
learning.
The skits prove to be a hit among the
young audience. Maybe because the
characters and the scenes are familiar,
being mere recreations of thin slices
of daily living. Like: A father who
encourages his son to play with toy guns;
a mother who plays favorite among her
children; a security guard who chooses
14
whom to trust or mistrust according to
ones tribe or religion; adult males who
resolve conflicts with guns.
The audience participates, too. You will Learning
hear the children’s collective sigh of
disapproval over a scene that plays out
the way
an unfair situation; they cheer evidently of peace
for scenes they find acceptable. They also
answer clearly and unhesitatingly when is learning
asked by the facilitator to pass judgment
on a character’s untoward behavior.
it the
And always., the children respond in right way,
unison, as if cued by a prompter. Yet, it’s
purely spontaneous. the child’s
Children know their values. A peace
way
education initiative is on the right track if
it gives the children great respect for this
and takes off from there. Learning the
way of peace is learning it the right way -
the child’s way. ■
Unfair! cry the children in unison over a scene that shows the
“security guard” (left photo) letting a “foreigner” get away with his
bottled water, while keeping a “local lady” from going somewhere with
hers (middle photo). Father Paul Glynn (right photo) caps each skit
with a reflection, in fluent Bisaya, to facilitate learning.
 15

PEACE COLLOQUY

T
he passion for peace need to
stand on reason to make the
advocacy last. Colloquies form a
good activity to collect thoughts and test
them in discussion as a way of fortfying
the rationale for peace. As a conversation
of the formal kind, a colloquy is an
age-old tool for enhancing the thought
process and promoting critical thinking.
It serves the Peace Village as well. One
such formal conversation was hosted by
the Youth Peace Advocates Organization
(that’s what the young Villagers have
called themselves as a body) on a host
of peace topics that they themselves
selected. The young challenged
themselves by inviting distinguished
leaders and professionals in the locality as
discussants. Prior to the event itself, the
organizing committee had identified the
individual presenters, and asked them to
choose their own topics and prepare for
their discussions. An added experience
for the young from this activity was
on the manner of conducting oneself
formally in conversations of this kind.
The process promotes civility. ■

Mix of wisdom and enthusiasm. Among the many local leaders who shared their wisdom in the colloquy
are (from top-left to right) Lala Mayor Santiago L. Bontilao, Lanao del Norte Vice-Governor Irma Umpa Ali
and Provincial Board members, and DepEd Region X Director Estrella Abid Babano. Mentor Ms Maria Eva S.
Edon (mid-left) moderates the discussion.

KIDS COMMIT TO PEACE
T
his segment (held on Day 3) forms a set
of learning activities that offer “instant”
experiences to the children from which
they can know the values and attitudes that serve
peace against those that serve violence. To meet
their pedagogical purpose, the activities involve the
children themselves; they are fun; they make sense;
they take the level of the children into account.
The scene is like
an oversized
class of young
and teen
learners, a few
hundreds strong,
sitting on the
floor in lotus-
like position.
The mentor
serves less as a lecturing teacher than a facilitator.
Spontaneity runs each type of learning activity.
For skits or role plays, for example, the players are
picked out from among the volunteers who respond
upon the facilitator’s invitation, their lines delivered
straight from hurried thought (there are no scripts)
following a given scenario. Like: How do you act
out “caring and understanding” among yourselves
as school mates? Show us a scene at home that plays
out the “courage to tell the truth”. A Question-and-
Answer type of reflection follows each extempore
skit to help understand the characters and absorb the
lesson.
16
A silent version of this is the pantomime: the
facilitator describes a scenario and asks for
volunteers to act it out through soundless
gestures and movements. The audience joins in
by guessing what’s playing out, which is often
where the fun is. A cast of a teen boy and girl
doing a mime about loving and caring is sure to
elicit boisterous teasing and laughter from the
young audience. It’s a good memory aide, too.
Other learning activities – e.g., short storytelling,
dialogues, games – have allowed the children to
enrich their stock of good values. It prepares them
for the final activity.
Later in the event, the children produced four
round stickers each (with more than one inch in
diameter) and wrote on them the good values they
like most. Then they cut out three stick figures of
kids from rectangular stickers supplied to them.
Standing side by side each other, the stick figures
are intended to represent the Lumads, Muslims
and Christians. Next, they pasted the round
stickers on the head of the stick figures. Finally, a
long streamer is spread on the floor, and upon a
cue from the facilitator, the children pasted all the
stick kids on the streamer. The children commit to
uphold the values on the head of the stick figures
and seal that commitment by pressing their
painted palm in a space on the streamer reserved
for the purpose.
And once again, they let the whole world know
about it. ■

SCHOOL-COMMUNITY OF PEACE
WORKSHOP
F
or the past two Villages, the
Southeast Asian Ministers
of Education Organization
(SEAMEO-INNOTECH) and
the Office of the Presidential
Adviser on Peace Process
(OPAPP) have supported parallel
initiatives toward the building
of school-community of peace.
In collaboration with DepED
Region X office and the Divisions
under it, the two agencies have
provided assistance in the holding
of planning and integration
workshops, as participated in
by teachers and administrators
from these Divisions. The
first two phases have yielded
School-Community Plans for the
participating offices.
The third phase was held
alongside of the 4th Peace
Village activities, which aimed
to consolidate the learning from
the first two phases and enrich
the individual school-community
plans. The three-day workshops
also generated common themes
and programs on peace and
peace education with which to
come out with more harmonized
and coherent plan for the entire
Region X. The workshops
also set timetables, established
accountabilities, and defined
expected outputs.
“The end of the integration
workshop,” wrote SEAMEO,
“signals the beginning of the
implementation of individual
plans on school-community
of peace.” The Regional and
Division Offices are expected
to lend support and assistance
to schools, if so needed. The
workshops have taken guidance
from the following objectives:
17
• To learn and appreciate stories
and initial gains from phase 2
experience;
• To enhance participants’
knowledge and skills in
developing a culture of
peace in their schools and
communities;
• To enrich the individual
school-community of peace
plans; and
• To develop participants’
competencies in, and fortify
commitment to, the building
of a school-community
of peace in their areas of
responsibility. ■

CLOSING EVENT
T
he closing event capped
the four-day initiative,
which was made more
memorable by the presence of
the DepED Secretary himself,
the Honorable Jesli A. Lapus.
He came with his other title, an
honorific one, as Datu Bantugan
V, having been conferred
the honor by the Provincial
Government of Lanao del Norte
since 2005. The previous day, he
met with the peace advocates in
the Village when he surprised
them with a personal visit.
The Secretary expressed his
appreciation for the initiative, and
cited the Division of Lanao del
Norte for hosting the events.
He spoke about peace as an
urgent concern for everyone
in the area, particularly on
account of its local development
“I don’t see how you can use
your tourism potentials effectively
without the condition of lasting
peace firmly in place.”
- DepED Secretary Jesli A. Lapus
implications. Lanao del Norte has
good tourism potentials, he said
- “But I don’t see how you can
use them effectively without the
condition of lasting peace firmly
in place.”
The final closing portion was
a flag retreat. Early on, a joint
group of Girl and Boy Scouts
marched into the venue; each
one was carrying a Philippine
flag folded lengthwise, resting
accross the two arms stretched
forward. Every peace advocate in
attendance gets a chance to hold
the folded flag in this manner as
a copy is transferred from one to
another. You don’t touch it, but
you can get it close enough to
your heart - this symbol of our
nation - for you to make a vow.
A simple one will do. Spread
18
across the hall is the streamer of
stick figures sporting good values
and attitudes written on their
heads. The children have sealed
their commitments to promote
these values as ways to peace
by pressing their palms on the
streamer. Follow their lead and
vow as they did. Then leave your
“palm prints” on the ground.
More than just a dream, peace is
work in earnest. ■
From far left: Boy and Girl Scouts carry
Philippine flag copies for the retreat; Sec.
Jesli A. Lapus passes on the flag to Vice-
Governor Irma Umpa Ali; host Division
officers take and pass the flag by turns;
the streamer offers choices of peace
values to commit to by the flag.
More than just
a dream, peace
is work in
earnest
 19

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

appreciation

They don’t take center stage, they shy away from the limelight, they are nameless and faceless,
at least until this page. They are the women and men of the host Division who moved and
shook heaven and earth for the Fourth Peace Village to happen. On behalf of the DepED
Division of Lanao del Norte, I would like to extend my appreciation to all of them for all their
hard work and dedication. Peace lovers the world over deserve to know them, if only by their
names.

- Dr. Maria Luisa B. Mutia

NAME*
Anita C. Eya
Arlene D. Manginsay
Belen T. Bastillada
Flashes Staff headed by Alma C.
Malifer with Vilma V. Mangubat
Florderick S. Velarde
Francisco S. Gutierrez
Loraine C. Olavides
Maria Eva S. Edon
Maria Martha L. Jumawan
Maricar T. Ablin
Myles M. Sayre
Naimah S. Tamano
Teresita B. Ilago
Tita F. Tubongbanua
Vellma Lou Alimanza
Victoria N. Caballero
All Education Supervisors &
Coordinators
RESPONSIBILITY
Peace Parade; Kids Commit To Peace; Putting-up of
Philippine flag & Division banners
Love Power & Peace Reflections; Invitation
Invitation; Streamers & tarpaulin; Decoration
Publication of Peace Village newsletter, Flashes
Technical support
Sound System; Kids Say Yes To Life; Streamers &
tarpaulin
Kids Say Yes To Life; Invitation; Shower of Peace;
Registration
Peace advocates organizational meeting; Peace
Colloquy; Peace Conference; Invitation
Accommodation
Cultural Show; Dance Sports
Overall admin support
Peace advocates organizational meeting; Shower of
Peace; Peace Colloquy; Invitation
Food
Invitation; Registration
Invitation; Peace advocates organizational meeting;
Shower of Peace; Kids Say No To Guns; Kids Say Yes
To Life
Peace Colloquy; Invitation
Opening Program; Closing Ceremony

* Listed in the order of their first names