Filipinos are invited to support the fight against racism in Vice President Sara Duterte’s message for the United Nations (UN) International Day of Peace as she described it to be a “moral obligation” for all to end the “culture of hate” that threatens communities.
The lady official described International Peace Day as “a constant reminder of our yearning for meaningful and lasting peace for all” and called racism “a source of conflict (that) carves painful wounds that linger through generations.”
“We have a moral obligation to end racism and address the web of violence interlocking around the culture of hate that threatens to overcome us, injure us, and break us apart as a community,” she said on Wednesday, Sept. 21, in a video message posted on her official Facebook page.
“We cannot allow hate to poison our differences or allow it to overpower our unity as one community that respects each other’s ethnicity, culture, and religion,” Duterte added.
The UN International Day of Peace’s core theme this year is “end racism,” which the Vice President stressed highlighted “the universality of our fight to be recognized, respected, and be accorded our equal rights as a nation with diverse culture, traditions, and religions.”
She enjoined Filipinos to “tap on our differences and ensure that every person can freely exercise their cultural rights and other fundamental rights recognized by international laws” and hoped the people can be “unrelenting” in building an inclusive society.
“I trust that Filipinos will support the campaign against racism in the spirit of unity, peace, and progress for our country,” Duterte said.