University for Peace (UPeace) – Asia Graduation message

This video has excerpts of the whole message. (Thank you Chino, my nephew who took this amateur video.) 

The transcript of the whole message could be found below. 

Good evening to all of you.

 In Naga Pi Chaung Village in Delta region, the hardest-hit area in Myanmar by Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 and believed to be an underserved area, I went there with a team from UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for my internship. We asked a group of villagers including the village chief about the village’s pressing needs. The village chief responded quickly and identified fishing nets, boats and agricultural inputs and tools as their pressing needs. The villagers agreed to this assessment. Of course, we took note of those needs.

 Then, we asked the women present in the meeting the same question. One woman, apparently a mother, replied, “education.” Teary-eyed, she continued that children in the village have stopped going to school because they have no school to go to (their solitary school was flattened by the cyclone), no teacher, and no school supplies. Afterwards, there was silence in the meeting.

Education! Why not?

 Amidst the shortage or lack of basic necessities in the village such as water, shelter (most of them live in a makeshift shelter wrapped around by blue and white tarpaulins as walls and roof), food, clothes, one woman stressed the need for education in the village.  (I know Ma'am Indai and Ma'am Tina, our professor in gender course and peace psychology, would be happy to hear this story.)

 I believe that three institutions would agree to the woman’s answer, education. These are the institutions that invest, develop, advance and facilitate education for the global village.

 Nippon Foundation has various projects in education including scholarships. One of which is this program. Thank you Nippon Foundation for believing in education as a tool for social change, development and empowerment. Arigato!

The other institution is University for Peace, particularly our Dept. of Peace and Conflict Studies. This small university in Costa Rica is a giant in the field of peace and conflict studies. We, students, are privileged to receive trainings from its topnotch professors who are experts in their own fields. Its multicultural environment adds to the joy and struggles of our learning. It is truly a global village. Gracias UPeace. Pura Vida!

 One more institution worthy as the first, Ateneo de Manila University which is going to celebrate its 150th years of great service through education to Filipinos and foreigners. It has formed and produced distinguished graduates. And we are pleased to be part of the roster of graduates of this institution. Thank you Ateneo. One big fight!

Oh, we also had our 3-week course in La Salle. Yes, you hear me right. It is La Salle. But it was Universidad de la Salle in San Jose, Costa Rica for our foundation course. Well, it is a long story.

Before the drafting of this message, I have asked my classmates if they have anything that they would like to be part of this message. One classmate emailed me. She wrote, “We are trees planted by the hands that have been working for peace.” You probably know whose hands she is referring to. But these trees started from seeds. I have seen how the seeds were provided with the best soil, care, and nurturing environment. And now the trees have grown and ready to bear fruits.

 Since seeds come from a source, I would like to acknowledge our sources, our mothers. Like the mother in Naga Pi Chaung Village, our mothers, I imagine, would also assert the need for education. We all learned first from our mothers – the best education in the world. Thank you, Ma.

 And thank you for that woman in the village who reminded me of what I am holding now, what I’m thinking, feeling, speaking, dreaming – all products of the best education we just received.

I am confident that this education will find its way and expression in whatever career and mission we undertake to contribute to peacebuilding.

 And another classmate whispered to me last night. He wanted to include this message here. As the first batch of the Dual-Campus program, we complained a lot for 19 months. (Balazs, the willing listener of our complaints, knows this). We complained about accommodation, course schedules, late information, coordination between Costa Rica and Manila, and many other things. We struggled too. We struggled with our deadlines, with English in different Asian and other accents, Spanish, the languages in our internship assignments (Bahasa Indonesia). Through these complaints and struggles, we have learned the language of friendship. We shared this friendship in MyPlace, in Bellarmine Building, in cafeterias, in Council room. We celebrated this friendship through birthdays, weekend and course break trips out of town and out of the country. And this friendship will tie us wherever we will be. We may be in the remotest village in Myanmar, conflict-torn areas in Africa or Afganistan, an air-conditioned room in Tokyo, classroom in Indonesia, South Korea or Japan; we will always be reminded that 27 others out there somewhere that peace is not always about the opposite of conflict, it is a way to live.

 I remember Wolfgang who told us that whatever we do, say, think, feel, dream, literally whatever, an energy is released in the world that can make a difference. I once emailed a classmate about this, and I will say it to you again (although I usually don’t say words twice, my apology to that classmate), because of our education, of what we went through, of our unbelievable journey together, of what we believe in, we now all are a difference to this world. I can feel that overflowing energy in this room, share this. Bring this to the villages, to your home countries, to your friends, your families, to whomever we meet. Our energies together and of those we can influence can be a difference, can bring about change, can challenge and transform the structures that restrict others, can respond to human needs including those of the woman in Naga Pi Chaung Village in Myanmar. We can count on the three institutions to be with us. Besides, we have each other.

 If there’s one thing I learned from this 19-month program, it is that I am responsible for my future, a shared future with you, with others. Let us believe then in the future that we can build, together, here.

 Thank you, gracias, Dios mabalos!

Gender Dimension and Analysis of Peace and Conflict

Gender Analysis is essential to assess and understand the structure of context, relationships, and factors of a certain topic of interest. It describes what is observed in power relations.

Sex and gender are two different things. Sex refers to the differences in biological attributes of men and women. Gender is a social and cultural construct which is learned and changeable. This construct is identified as masculinity and femininity. Arising from this construct are the gender roles expected to masculine and feminine. These gender roles are shaped by ethnicity, generation, class, and religion.

The development of gender as a field of study could be traced from its political struggle. The first wave began in the French Revolution with its declaration of the rights of man (excluding woman). Then in the 20th century, the first feminist movement in England clamored for the right of women to vote. The second wave commenced in the establishment of United Nations in 1945. The civil rights movement in the US in the 60s was also part of this. The third wave took its root in the UN international conferences on women in Mexico (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985), Vienna (1993), Beijing (1995) and other conferences and documents.

There are two differing positions in the interpretation of gender. The first one is the essentialist position. It basically views gender based on the stable and immutable qualities and underlying factors. For the essentialists, gender identity remains unchangeable. The second position is the constructionism. It views gender identity as a result of perceptions of gender rather than innate qualities.

Women are oftentimes projected as victims of conflict and violence, such as rape, domestic violence, and abduction. This may not always be so. Women can also be perpetrators and peace leaders.

Although there is now an opening up of spaces for women to participate in the public sphere, this remains limited. Representation in the public arena such as political and public domains does not guarantee an improvement in the plight of women.

If peace can not be achieved without the equal participation of men and women, then peace remains an elusive and utopian dream – almost unattainable. I think we should be careful in attaching peace to a very difficult endeavor because it will make peace a victim of our doing.

Environmental security: climate change meets peace through the state

Climate change has made us rethink the way we treat the environment. No more of wasteful and irresponsible investments and activities that harm the environment. Even the security discourse has been put into context by the environmental concern.

There has been an increasing awareness and concern of the environmental degradation and its relationship with security issues. Likewise, a growing evidence shows that conflicts are exacerbated by environmental decline in some countries whose governments are weak, poor, corrupt, and oppressive.

There are four approaches to understand the relationship between environment and security. First is the Toronto School that sees conflict as effect of resource scarcity and population growth. Second is that conflict is directly linked to society’s transition from a subsistence to a market economy. Third is the attempt of groups to gain control of abundant resources through violence. Finally, the fourth approach refers to the “network threats” brought about by environmental degradation that is caused by human activities and disasters.

How we view security? There are two ways to do it; traditionalist and non-traditionalist. The traditionalist view of security gives primacy to military security because the world is anarchic. Relations are driven by insecurity. Nation-state is the unit of analysis here. While, the non-traditionalist view of security argues that there is no hierarchy of issues. It basically expands the scope of security to other threats including individual quality of life.

The concept of sovereignty makes nation-state remain to hold the power to enforce environmental security. Any effort for environmental conservation and protection must engage the nation-state to be effective, sustainable, and have long-lasting impact. How do then international groups and organizations engage a state that is contributing to environmental degradation?

Hydropolitics or politics of water is significant to security studies. This role of hydropolitics has been manifest in the conflicts involving freshwater usage. If water could cause war (water-war thesis), it could also foster peace (water-peace thesis) as exemplified in the agreements and cooperation by countries sharing the water areas (Nile and Mediterranean).

Peace and Conflict: Personally, Etymologically, Religiously, and Culturally Speaking

As a single, Catholic, Bicolano, and Filipino male citizen and graduate student, I would present my view on peace and conflict. My narrative of peace and conflict is certainly informed by experiences, and culture/religion. In addition, I would try to find contradiction with our notion of peace and conflict based on my experiences and culture/religion.

Growing up in a rural area, I would illustrate my personal interpretation of peace and conflict in the context of my experiences with my family. For me, peace is being understood by others in the premise that others are also being understood. In my family, tasks or household chores were distributed among siblings when we were still young. Since I am the second youngest in seven siblings, I normally was assigned to do light work like washing dishes and my two older brothers assumed the heavy loads like fetching water, cutting firewood, etc. This distribution and set-up of tasking was clear and made life easy and fun for us. In other words, we were at peace with the situation and each other. However, things were not always like that, and conflict arose when we began to misunderstand each other. In this case, sometimes, I could not wash the dishes because there was not enough water from the jar. Irritated, I could not understand why my older brothers missed to do their work. So, I started not to do my work if there was not enough water. This resolve caused a conflict with my mother who oversaw our performance and overall housekeeping. When she noticed that I had not done my task, she got angry with me. I reasoned that I could not do my task because others failed to do their tasks. Then my mother explained that my brothers were going to school and so, they missed to fetch water. At that point, I understood my brothers and my mother, in turn, understood me. The opening up of communication helped in settling the conflict.

It is worth-noting in this incident that my mother kept the peace in the house. This role could be attributed to the Great Mother or goddess who in the matriarchal monotheism gave and controlled life in the world. However, the institutionalization of marriage and society relegated this role and elevated the patriarchal monotheism.

In the energetic concept of peace, communication is important because peace is relational. Especially in a family system where harmony is very much desired in the relationships, the understanding of peace in this setting could very well be in the concept of energy.

I was born and raised in Bicol region, south of Manila, Philippines. I have my own language, Bikol, apart from the “national” or legislated national language, Filipino or mainly Tagalog language. Peace in Bikol is known as katoninongan. What is interesting in this Bikol word is the word ninong, which literally means godfather. Ninong has a religious underpinning. There is “the clear statement of the Bible that circumcision was given to Abraham, as ‘a sign of the covenant’ (Gen. xvii, 11).” As Catholicism is the dominant religion in the Bicol region, many people are generally exposed to Catholic rituals such as baptism, wedding, and confirmation. These religious rituals assign godfather (ninong) or godmother (ninang) on the baptized child on his/her way to Catholic adult life. The primacy of ninong in the baptism could be traced to its relation to circumcision which is primarily a male experience and seemingly a non-religious ritual which may have connection with “phallic worship, and thus regarded as an offering to the deity of fertility.” However, “St. Thomas holds that circumcision was a figure of baptism: this retrenches and restrains the animal man as that removed a part of his body -- which physical act indicated the spiritual effect of the sacrament (De Sac., Summa, III, Q. lxx, a. 1). He connected the circumcision ritual with the sacrament of baptism, a mundane activity (circumcision) being connected to a divine activity (saving grace through baptism). The circumcision which is exclusive for males may have aided in the rise of male dominance of society, just like the warrior in the hero narratives. Its institutionalization and practice in society put reverence and patronage on the male population who subscribes to it.

Interestingly, I had a ninong on both Catholic baptism and circumcision which were rites of passage for me. Baptism accepted me in the Christian world while circumcision signaled the start of my adult and sexual life. The basic task of a ninong in both occasions is to guide me on the road to this Christian world and adult life. If circumcision prepared me to this adult and sexual life with the guidance of a ninong, then it was very much connected to the concept of peace in relation to fertility. According to my ninong, it is believed that it is unclean and unsafe for a woman to have sexual act with uncircumcised man. It is also believed that sex with uncircumcised man will bear an abnormal child. So to make peace, katoninongan, with women and the potential child who may carry a stigma of being an offspring of uncircumcised father, I underwent circumcision which was witnessed by a ninong who would watch over my adult life. That is probably why ninong is godfather because he functions like a god who gives security. And we know that peace is God in the moral concept of peace.

In relation to this conception of peace with ninong, the concept of conflict in Bikol word makes a lot of sense. Conflict in Bikol is kariribukan, which could be the closest translation is chaos or noise. Bicolanos believe that the world is chaotic for an unbaptized person, either in sacrament or circumcision. So in both rituals (baptism and circumcision), a person is able to have a ninong who will guide him in the midst of chaos to make sense of the chaotic world. Ninong becomes an instrument to prevail over the chaos of this world. Thus, another concept of peace comes into play with ninong giving guidance and making sense of this chaotic world – peace as security. With my ninong on my side, I feel secured about my undertakings in this world because I have the guidance of my ninong. In other words, I find peace with the guidance of my ninong.

The main contradiction I found in this peace with ninong and conflict as kariribukan (chaos) is that the two is not a duality – between good and bad. Peace is not the opposite of but an instrument to confront and transform conflict (chaos) with the help of ninong. The transformation of conflict is in making sense of the whole which leads to understanding of the world. Again, I go back to my personal interpretation of peace as being understood. The contradiction to our notion of peace and conflict as duality or, at times, opposite or rupture of the natural state, makes us revisit the concept of Great Triad of Taoism – heaven, humanity, and earth. A variation of the Great Triad in this case corresponds to Peace, katoninongan, with ninong as god (heaven), understanding (humanity), and conflict or chaos (earth). In this variation, it is conceived that the end of humanity is understanding each other in this chaotic earth with the aid of peace brought about by ninong.