PEACE-MAKER
Jose de Venecia Jr.
Former Speaker of the House
It was in the beautiful city of Sankt Augustin in 1998 where we first espoused the idea of an “Asian Dialogue” which would engage the mainstream political parties of our continent on matters of peace, security, and economic development.
Two years later in the year 2000, we had the privilege to launch the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) here in Manila, which now has some 350 political parties from 52 countries in Asia as members, which headquarters we later transferred from Manila to Seoul in hopes of contributing to peace in the Korean peninsula, which unfortunately, has been elusive up to now. We have since established close ties with the political parties of Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe; and had discussed possible modes of cooperation with the United States’ Democratic and Republican parties.
We also helped launch here in Manila in 2017 the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP), which has a global membership and active in promoting peace and reconciliation. We in ICAPP and IAPP are committed to these causes in our region and the international community. We have also been adding our voice and modest influence on the challenges besetting the global community such as poverty, terrorism and violent extremism, climate change, environmental degradation, among others.
Earlier, in 2006, we led the conversion of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) into the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), in hopes it can be a forerunner of an eventual Asian Parliament like the European Parliament or African Parliament. The APA now has 40 member-parliaments.
We mention these things not to lift our bench, but to underscore the importance of dialogue and cooperation, especially during these tumultuous times.
For indeed, humanity and the planet are facing serious threats. The food shortage is spreading extensively. The supply chain is being disrupted. And the risks of humanitarian disaster are increasing rapidly due to protracted wars and violent confrontations as well as natural calamities.
We sadly note the long-drawn-out war in Ukraine; lingering tensions in the Korean Peninsula, West Philippine Sea, East China Sea, and Taiwan Straits; periodic bloodshed in Israel and Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan; bloody clashes in Haiti, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The monsoon flooding in Pakistan, droughts in Africa, heat waves in Europe.
Truly, upheavals in our region and around the world abound.
Amid the deep polarization in the world, we need to create avenues for dialogue, cooperation, and solidarity.
For truly, “despite our differences, there are much more that unite us than divide us.” Our differences do not obliterate but in fact create the need for dialogue.
We in the global community should be united by our collective desire and capacity to meet humanity’s greatest challenges in the modern age. We should be united by the goals that transcend national boundaries as well as interests that are embraced by all.