PHILIPPINES LEADS THE WORLD IN PEACE
A worldwide revolution is happening and the Philippines is leading the way! No kidding.
The Global Peace Festival, founded in 2006, has quickly spread around the world uniting people of all faiths, cultures and nationalities in the spirit of “one family under God” (the GPF motto). In only its second year of operation, peace celebrations have been held in over 20 nations this year, including two in North America, three in Central and South America, four in Europe, two in the Middle East, one in Africa, five in Asia, and one in Oceania.
The size of the crowds ranged from hundreds to tens of thousands of people. Even more important is the revolutionary way of approaching socially relevant issues.
Last year, in 2007, there were five GPF events held worldwide. The Philippines held the largest festival among them all with news reports indicating that as many as a quarter of a million people came to at the Quirino Grandstand to celebrate peace.
In other ways too, the GPFs here in the Philippines are setting a model for other nations to follow. The Philippines is the first to hold smaller events on the regional levels. For the past three months in nine provinces peace festivals have been held throughout this nation. These are in preparation for the gala event to be held December 13 again at the Quirino Grandstand with the crowd expected to swell to two million people.
From Baguio to Lanao Del Norte governors, mayors, educators, leaders of civil society including religious leaders from all faiths are stepping forward to co-partner and sponsor these events. The first provincial GPF was held in Mindanao in September. This initiative did more than create a strong social impact to revive the peace process in Mindanao.
When Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo recently returned to the Philippines, she immediately visited Mindanao and said interfaith dialogue and understanding would be a central pillar of her administration policy to deal with the situation in Mindanao.
The Philippines is leading in other ways too. The GPF theme song, “Where Peace Begins,” was written by Filipino Trina Belamide and has become popular worldwide.
GPF partners with all sectors of society and seeks to broaden the thinking of people because, after all, the preamble of the UNESCO charter says, “wars begin in the minds of men.”
Therefore, the focus of the festivals is on changing mind-sets by trying to raise cultural awareness to really “think globally.” In essence people are challenged, to feel that everyone—regardless of race, nationality, or religion—is really part of his or her family.
There are three main parts to the festival: community service, education centering of leadership and good governance, and the gala festival. All highlight the need to strengthen the family as the most fundamental unit for social change and renewal.
In reality, these festivals have been quickly and widely received in all cultures of the world because they stand in stark contradiction to headlines in news outlets around the world that seem to say an inevitable “clash of civilizations” is our only option.
We now have a choice.
