The Ministers’ League of Zambales (MLZ) and the Asian Center for Leadership Education and Development (ACLEAD) invited the Peace and Reconciliation Commission of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC-PARCom) to conduct a seminar series on Peace Education among their pastors and other sectoral leaders of the Province of Zambales.
Ms Susan Granada, National Coordinator of PCEC-PARCom, and Dann Pantoja, President of PeaceBuilders Community Inc (PBCI), were tasked to facilitate the orientation seminar held at the Transformational Learning Center (TLC) in Iba, Zambales. The theme of the initial session of this four-month seminar series was Building Bridges, Sustained Peace in Our Communities. Dann & Susan were assisted by the volunteers from the Youth for Social Action, an evangelical movement advocating for an active non-violent, radical transformation of the Filipino youth.
Through the spiritual leadership of Bishop Virginio Ducos (TLC Director) and the coordination of Rev. David Banaag (MLZ President), 38 participants came–pastors, ministry leaders, civil society leaders, police officers, military officers, and local government officials. Bishop Ducos said that there were more than 60 people who pre-registered to participate. But because of the approaching super typhoon Chedeng (Songda), around 25 pastors and ministry leaders decided to stay home. (The typhoon, however, changed its direction and missed the general area where we were. The whole seminar day was very sunny and hot!)
At the end of the day, 31 pastors and ministry leaders made a commitment to be trained to become part of the PAR Community in Zambales. The training will continue in the next four months.
God willing, a new PAR Zambales would be organized in September.
26 MAY 2011. IBA, ZAMBALES