The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) recognized this year's "Gawad Kapayapaan" awardees in honor of the critical role they have played in achieving peace in the country.
Among the recipients of the Gawad Kapayapaan Highest Distinction Award include former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.
The awarding ceremony was held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Friday, Sept. 29.
Peace advocacy
Ermita, one of the Gawad Kapayapaan awardees, said that the cause of peace has been part of his unwavering advocacy throughout his 57-year-long tenure as a government official and public servant.
In his acceptance speech, Ermita emphasized a principle which he strongly believes: "Peace is not merely the absence of conflict; it is the presence of justice, unity, and prosperity for our people."
Ermita served as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Deputy Chief of Staff from 1986 to 1988, and Vice Chief of Staff in 1988 during the time that the administration of then President Corazon Aquino fought back a series of coup attempts.
Upon his retirement from the military service in 1988, he was appointed by then Defense Chief Fidel V. Ramos as an Undersecretary of National Defense (USND) during the last major coup attempt in 1989. He also handled the program for the reconciliation, reintegration and rehabilitation of rebel returnees in the DND from 1976 to 1984, and 1988 to 1992.
In 1992, he ran for Congress and served for three terms as the representative of the first district of Batangas until 2001. In the Congress, Ermita sponsored the ratification of several proclamations for amnesty directed at the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People's Army - National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and other rebel and Muslim secessionist groups under the administrations of former Presidents Ramos, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
He served as as the head of the then Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process, the predecessor to OPAPRU, from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, he was also appointed as the chairman of the Government Peace Negotiating Panel in talks with the MNLF.
He became the Secretary of National Defense from 2003 to 2004. The last government position he held was as the Executive Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson under the Arroyo administration from 2004 to 2010.
"My views on peace making is from the perspective of a military professional who gives value to my own life story. That we, old soldiers, would tell all those who dare to listen, that no one wants peace as much as the soldiers who witnessed the horrors of war,” Ermita said.
Aside from Ermita, also recipients of the Gawad Kapayapaan High Distinction Award were former Aklan Governor Florencio "Joeben" Miraflores, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Paint brush peace warrior
Meanwhile, a paint brush peace warrior was also recognized by OPAPRU for his advocacy centered in advancing peace in the southern part of the country, and for designing the Gawad Kapayapaan trophy.
The late Rameer Amilasan Tawasil was a Muslim Tausug painter who used his artistic talents in advocating for peace in Mindanao while growing up at the height of the Moro insurgency in the 1970s.
Tawasil mastered the “ukkil” brush strokes, a form of Tausug carving that was practiced even before the Spaniards introduced Western painting in the country. His artwork depicted the rich culture, history and traditions of his people, as well as the harsh realities not only in his hometown but throughout Mindanao, OPAPRU said.
Tawasil first engaged with the OPAPRU in 2012 when he was tapped to help the agency in its various peacebuilding initiatives, particularly in conducting art therapy sessions for internally-displaced persons (IDPs) in Marawi and designing the Gawad Kapayapaan trophy.
“The culture of peace should start with kids. It is important to instill in the minds of the young ones the essence of peace," the OPAPRU quoted him as saying in 2012.
The OPAPRU said that Tawasil led a basic art workshop for internally-displaced children in Marawi during a 10-day solidarity activity dubbed “Duyog Ramadan Alang sa Kalinaw”.
The OPAPRU’s Socioeconomic Development Office, through the Task Force for Decommissioned Combatants and their Communities, also partnered with Tawasil in holding art sessions for the orphans of 39 martyrs and internally-displaced children at the Darul Mukhsineen for Educational and Orphans Care Al-Aushen Center in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao in October 2022.
He died on June 6.
Peace Awards Project
The Gawad Kapayapaan or Peace Awards Project is envisioned to be the country's "premier award recognizing the major contribution of individuals, institutions, and organizations in moving forward the Comprehensive Philippine Peace Process," said OPAPRU Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
It also aims to recognize select peace advocates, champions and exemplars for the "critical role they have played in achieving peace in the country," as well as highlight the accomplishments, milestones, and innovative peacebuilding programs that have been carried out in building on the gains of the comprehensive peace process in the country.
The awarding of Gawad Kapayapaan marked the culmination of the National Peace Consciousness Month in September.
(Updated)