Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.

Kaangayan, Kalambuan, Kalinaw ... sa Mindanaw, sa Pilipinas, sa Kalibutan

Peace Course with the military still going 
… despite war in Basilan and Sulu
By Belle Garcia
Posted 17 August 2007

	The 9th batch of soldiers from the 103rd Infantry Brigade based in Lanao under the 1st "Tabak" Infantry Division.

THE NINTH BATCH of soldiers now undergoing the Course on Conflict Management and Peace Building at the Balay Mindanao Peace Center from August 13-17 may be the last. But the question still lingers: “What happens after the training?”

This is one of the questions Col. Raynard Ronnie Y. Javier, commanding officer of the 103rd Infantry Brigade, posed as a challenge to his 33 officers and men who attended the Operation Peace Course, or OPKORS!

This batch of soldiers come from the 5th, 51st and 32nd Infantry Battalions, with some from the brigade headquarters.

Many of them expressed anguish and anger over the Basilan incident since most of them served the island province for 13 years before they were reassigned in the Lanao provinces early this year.

1st Sgt Manny A. Tan and SSg Harry A. Bangsa, both standing behind their fellow soldiers and helping facilitate the operation peace course with Balay Mindanaw.

This capacity building program of the military is an offshoot of the roundtable discussion with the erstwhile Southern Command (now split into the Eastern and Western commands) on Conflict Management and Peace building held last October 19, 2006. There, the idea of transforming the military’s culture of war into that of conflict management, culture of peace and peace building was reinforced and supported. Immediately, Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, then commanding general of the First “Tabak” Infantry Division, ordered his brigade and battalion commanders and their men to undergo the peace course.

Specifically OPKORS! provides venue for soldiers to understand deeper the conflicts in their respective areas, understand their inner selves, develop and enhance skills in managing conflict, and provide strategic interventions with the fundamentals of peace building as their basis of action. These sets of peace courses are being conducted by the Balay Mindanaw Group of NGOs, in partnership with the Catholic Relief Services, MSU-IIT Iligan Center for Peace Education and Research and other support groups and donor organizations.

During the short evaluation among the trainers and military officers involved in the course, it was articulated that there were very significant changes in most of the soldiers’ understanding of conflict at the personal and organizational level.

	Col. Raynard Ronnie Javier, peace advocate and commanding officer of the 103rd Infantry Brigade.

“Malaking bagay para sa akin ang training na ito kasi tinuruan ako kung paano alisin ang galit ko … lalo na simula sa aking sarili at pati na rin sa aming mga kaaway. Natututo akong mag adjust sa pag-iisip at paguunawa,” said 1st Sgt. Manuelito A. Tan of the Echo Company of the 5th Infantry Battalion. Manny, as he is now called by fellow trainers of Balay Mindanaw, was a participant of the peace course in February 2007.

Having difficulty adjusting to this new approach at soldiering, he is unlearning and learning at the same time the values and skills regarding communication, dialogue and mediation. Later, he was then called to join the trainers’ training of the 103rd brigade in April 2007 to help conduct the increasing number of peace courses under this brigade. Manny already helped facilitate and accompanied four sets of trainings, including the last batch. He highly recommends the course to his fellow cadres and CAFGUs.

To date, the 103IB has 88 officers, 116 non-commissioned officers and 201 Civilian Armed Auxiliaries (CAFGU members) who have undergone the peace course that started November last year. Even when MGen. Ferrer was reassigned from Tabak to the 6th Infantry Division last March 16, the 103IB, which is under Tabak, continued the trainings and advocacy on peace building. Convinced as he is, Col. Javier expressed, “These are reaffirmations of my long-time belief that peace is possible in the military.”

2LT Diana C. Alarda, 2LT Julie F. Laddaran and PFC Karen June Remion are the only female military officers and personnel who participated in the operation peace course this August.

As it seems, the road to peace is not easy, with the ongoing burning events happening with the Army in Sulu and the Marines in Basilan. But Col. Javier is still hopeful that things will turn for the better as he expects to see something good will happen out of the peace trainings for his officers and men in the province of Lanao del Norte. He believes that with his soldiers now equipped with the new knowledge, skills and approaches on peace acquired from the trainings, they will know how to analyze conflicts, what directions to consider, what values to guide them and know that peace is an option to take.

In the meantime, MGen Ferrer has started to train his new men in the 6ID on peace building. MGen Ferrer and Col. Javier, who are both committed in this peace endeavor, along with their like-minded generals, are now planning to pursue an enterprise program at the CAFGU/CAA level, to reach out to LGUs and the police and to continue peace advocacy within their ranks. These are several complementary activities that Balay Mindanaw will also look into, including developing strategies towards creating a favorable policy environment with the top military leadership.