At the Global Media Peace Forum held recently, one of the resource persons proposed a revival of pagmamano, a gesture of respect among the Filipino youth who reach out and place on their forehead the hand of their parents and elders. If done habitually, this could spark a renewal of filial piety, the concept of respect, obedience and service to one’s parents and the care of one's family. In turn, mutual deference and benevolence among family members eventually radiates to the community, the nation, and the world.
In 1987, after the historic EDSA People Power movement that brought about the restoration of democracy, the Development Bank of the Philippines initiated a memorable institutional advertising campaign that focused on Filipino values such as katapatan or honesty, kalinisan or cleanliness, delicadeza or sense of propriety, and palabra de honor or word of honor. These were propagated as values embedded in Pamilyang Uliran or the model family.
The school is the seedbed for instilling values that foster peace and harmony. Starting from Kindergarten, the young are taught how to fall in line and to listen to their teacher and classmates so they could learn. They develop interpersonal skills that enable them to discover the gems of bonding and friendship. This is what elders realize when they congregate at alumni homecoming reunions. Friendships that are fostered with classmates in grade school and high school endure through one’s lifetime.
Peace education is a lifelong learning process that is not confined to the grooves of the academe. It takes place in all arenas of human interaction through youth, adolescence, and adulthood. According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF): Peace education is “the process of promoting the knowledge, skill, attitudes and values needed to bring about behavior change that will enable children, youth and adults to prevent conflict and violence, both overt and structural; to resolve conflict peacefully; and to create the conditions conducive to peace whether at an interpersonal, intergroup, national or international level.” The ultimate objective is to propagate “a global culture of peace characterized by ecological integrity, economic and social justice, respect for human rights, democratic participation, and nonviolent resolution of conflicts.”
Despite violent conflict in some hot spots — such as today’s high-profile wars between Russia and Ukraine, and between Israel and Hamas, there is more peace and nonviolence than war and violence in most of the world, most of the time. This is because learning for peace goes on not just through formal education in schools but in day-to-day interactions in families, communities, churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues, in organizations, social movements, sports requiring team work, diplomatic negotiations, businesses, factories, unions, and more. Indeed, there is more than enough fund of human knowledge that could sustain continuous learning in the ways of peace.
Three paintings on Bayanihan, executed by National Artists Fernando Amorsolo, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, and Vicente Manansala in 1959, 1962 and 1979, respectively, depict the old tradition of neighbors helping a relocating family by mobilizing volunteers to carry the whole house on their shoulders. These capture the essence of community solidarity that provides the wellsprings for lasting peace.