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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/05/05/scaling-change-from-the-heart-my-reflections-on-the-national-entrepreneurship-conference-2025/

BUILDING PEACE THROUGH ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT: THE ROLE OF BANGSAMORO WOMEN

Over the past decade, significant efforts have been made to promote gender justice and economic empowerment in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), with Bangsamoro women playing a crucial role in peacebuilding and development. Oxfam and The Asia Foundation (TAF), supported by the Australian Government, have implemented programs that provide marginalized women with training, mentorship, and access to financial resources to help them thrive as entrepreneurs. These initiatives culminated in the Bangsamoro WEE Learning Exchange in 17-19 February 2025, which highlighted policy support, Islamic Finance, and inclusive growth strategies. As a panelist at this event, I shared insights from my work with Coffee for Peace and PeaceBuilders Community, reinforcing my belief in the transformative power of inclusive economic growth as a path to lasting peace in the region.

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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2025/02/20/building-peace-through-empowerment-the-role-of-bangsamoro-women/

OUR SPEAKING AND MEETING TOUR ACROSS CANADA WAS ENRICHING AND ENERGIZING

Last 12 October to 12 November, Joseph “Boyet”Ongkiko, Tala Alngag Bautista, and I went through a cross-Canada tour, sharing the story of PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. (PBCI) and Coffee for Peace (CFP). It was a time of face-to-face visits with our friends and supporters, celebrating our accomplishments together as partners in the work of PBCI and CFP. It was also a time to share the vision of establishing a permanent home of PBCI and CFP in one location we refer to as Malipayon Peace Hub. We started in Eastern Canada, then westward to Central Canada, and concluding the tour in British Columbia. Our message as a team is threefold: I presented the journey of PBCI-CFP from 2006 to the present. Boyet shared the new vision of educating young leaders from Indigenous Peoples’ communities through IncluDev. Tala shared her vision for the next generation Peace and Reconciliation initiatives framed in decolonization.

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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/11/15/our-speaking-and-meeting-tour-across-canada-was-mutually-enriching-and-energizing/

I’M HAPPY TO SEE THE LAUNCHING OF “KAPEHAN SA DAVAO” NETWORK’S INCUBATION PROGRAM

Last 06-07 July 2023, the Kapehan Sa Davao Network launched the Social Impact Business Incubation Program (SIBIP) for eight coffee enterprises in Region 11. It was held at Coffee For Peace Café in Davao City. I’m so inspired by the enthusiastic participation of Kape Ora, Kepeweñoz Specialty Coffee, Peding’s Café, Kape Maddiger, Gré Coffee, Tres Rosas Coffee Farm, Tribung Kape, and Kapeyapaan Farmers’ Association. These Incubation Sessions were facilitated by Upgrade Innolab Inc. This program is funded by Asian Development Bank’s SUNPh Program, to whom I and the whole Kapehan Sa Davao Network are grateful. I look forward to seeing the positive impact that the SIBIP will have on the coffee industry in the provinces of the Greater Davao Region.

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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/07/09/im-happy-to-see-the-launching-of-kapehan-sa-davao-networks-incubation-program/

WE’RE PART OF ‘TEAM PHILIPPINES’ AT THE SPECIALTY COFFEE EXPO 2023 IN PORTLAND, OREGON

It was a great opportunity to be chosen as one of the representatives of the Philippine coffee industry to participate at the Specialty Coffee Expo 2023 held in Portland, Oregon last 21-23 April 2023. As President & CEO of Coffee For Peace (CFP), I’m grateful to the efforts of the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) in bringing coffee industry stakeholders from the Philippines to this international coffee exhibition. By participating in this premier event, Filipino coffee industry players like me were able to showcase our products and connect with the international decision makers in the industry, gaining exposure to global markets and expanding our business opportunities.

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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2023/04/27/cfp-is-represented-at-the-specialty-coffee-expo-2023-in-portland-oregon/

COFFEE FOR PEACE OPENS A KIOSK AT THE ABREEZA MALL IN DAVAO CITY

I heard that the Ayala Corporation is supporting social enterprises by offering free space in their chain of malls throughout the country. Last 19 April 2021, I got a call from one of their representatives inquiring if I was interested in opening a 26-square-meter shop at the Ayala Abreeza Mall in Davao City as part of their Alagang Ayala Land Program. My first reaction was to pray. Then I established my objectives in light of the vision and mission of Coffee for Peace. I presented the plan to our community and to the management team of CFP. Our team recruited new interns and prepared them for this opportunity. Last 16 September 2021, we opened the Coffee for Peace Kiosk at Abreeza.

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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2021/09/26/coffee-for-peace-opens-a-kiosk-at-the-abreeza-mall-in-davao-city/

THE BAGOBO TAGABAWA IN BINATON COMPLETES SIX-MONTH ‘INCLUDEV’ TRAINING

16-17 September 2021. After the six-month Inclusive Development Training, the Bagobo Tagabawa community in Barangay Binaton, Digos City begins a long-term partnership with the PBCI-CFP Tribe. This partnership involves community-based, culturally contextualized Social Enterprise Development framed in Peace and Reconciliation (PAR) principles and practices. Because 80% of the participants in this program are women, we are giving greater emphasis on indigenous women’s leadership development. We are sharing the aspiration of the Bagobo Tagabawa Indigenous People to realize and enjoy their right to self-determination and to protect their ancestral domain.

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Permanent link to this article: https://waves.ca/2021/09/17/the-bagobo-tagabawa-in-binaton-completes-six-month-includev-training/

OUR GLOBAL PEACE COMMUNITY

We are sent by Mennonite Church Canada Witness in partnership with our international community.