05-07 August 2015. The Municipality of Banisilan in the Province of North Cotabato invited PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) to conduct a seminar on Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) among the religious leaders in their town.
For the past three decades, Banisilan and the surrounding areas have been going through chronic armed conflicts due to land disputes and historical injustices. 30 people — Christian Pastors and Priest, Muslim Imam and Ustadz, and Indigenous Peoples’ Spiritual Leaders — were invited to form the Banisilan Religious Affairs Society.
PAR is PEACE AND RECONCILIATION.
PAR is the heart of our ministry. PEACE. The concept of peace — from the Hebrew term shalom and the Arabic term salaam — is understood here as:
- Harmony with the Creator (spiritual transformation)
- Harmony with our Being (psycho-social transformation)
- Harmony with Others (socio-political transformation); and,
- Harmony with the Creation (economic-ecological transformation).
RECONCILIATION. This is focused on building relationships between antagonists. The primary goal is to seek innovative ways to create a time and a place
- to address,
- to integrate, and
- to embrace
the painful past and the necessary shared future as a means of dealing with the present.
The PBCI team members who facilitated the 2-day Basic PAR Seminar were Queenilyn Liwat, June Rojo, Clay Rojo, Joji Felicitas Bautista Pantoja, and Dann Pantoja.
