21
Mar

First National Peace Education Summit

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MSU Main Campus - Marawi City > IPDM News > First National Peace Education Summit
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Miss Aliah P. Cali-Pascan

Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao, MSU Main Campus, Marawi

MSU Participants attended today’s 1st National Peace Education Summit held at Apo View Hotel, Davao City. The National Peace Education Summit was organized by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education and Department of Education. During the early session, MSU IPDM Marawi through ED Acram Latiph was mentioned as one of the partners of the summit. The in-person participants were:
1. Dr. Samuel Anonas
2. Prof. Aldean Alonto
3. Prof. Raihan A. Yusoph
4. Prof. Harvey Niere
The virtual participants were:
1. ED Acram Latiph, Ph.D
2. Prof. Tirmizy Abdullah, Ph.D
3. Prof. Cora Mangelen
4. Dir. Aliah P. Cali-Pascan,, JD
5. Moh’d Camal Sharief, LPT

These participants were joined by peace builders, peace educators, peace advocates, peace champions and others. Other campuses of MSU were also represented. Highlights of the OPAPRU’s efforts and Initiatives were presented by Ms. Rowena Lopez. Ms. Lopez who just recently visited MSU IPDM Marawi accompanied Assistant Secretary Magno who took notice of the MSU Fundamentals of Peace Education 101, 3 unit basic and comprehensive course offered to all undergraduate programs in the University System and the IPDM’s contributions during the SC Chief Justice Visit in the University.

During the opening program of this summit, Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Carlito G. Galvez emphasized about the importance of peace education in the country. As also discussed, Executive Order 570 would call for the Institutionalizing Peace Education in the Schools and Universities. This was also spelled out in the priority agenda of MSU System President Atty. Basari D. Mapupuno for making MSU as a Center of Peace.

Dr. Mayong Aguja, MSU Board Regent Member, was invited as Plenary Speaker to discuss about the Strengthening Peace Education in the University. Dr. Jovar Pantao of MSU Gensan was also invited as panel discussant. As ways forward, MSU System President Atty. Basari D. Mapupuno already signed a Memorandum of Agreement last month with BARMM MPOS for the establishment of Peace Hubs, to build a Culture of Peace in the University.

About the author

The institute for peace and development in Mindanao (IPDM) was created by the MSU Board of Regents during its 182nd Meeting on December 7, 2001. The institute assumed the functions of two defunct units: the Muslim Christian Center for Peace Studies and the Muslim Mindanao Development Institute. It is now the central coordinating unit for all existing peace and development programs of the campuses of the University. MSU was established on September 1, 1961 as one of the government responses to the so-called “Mindanao problem.” The problem includes a violent struggle of segments of the Filipino Muslim population to redress long-standing grievances and assert Muslim selfhood and identity in the face of real and imagined threats of cultural and spiritual assimilation by the majority Filipino Christian population. The University was mandated to accelerate the “integration” of the cultural communities in Mindanao into the mainstream body politic and to accelerate the development of its service areas through instruction, research, and extension. In the pursuit of these objectives, the University also seeks to infuse spiritual and moral values, national consciousness and solidarity, and mutual understanding among Filipinos, which are necessary for peaceful coexistence and sustainable development. IPDM was therefore, created with the expectation that it would contribute to the easing of tensions and the promotion of justice and peace between Filipino Muslims and Christian by expanding knowledge, improving understanding and heightening sensitivity in relations between the peoples of Mindanao in particular, and the Philippines in general.