Pinangunahan ng mga Mamamayan sa Buong Mundo sa Panahon ng Pandemya

Noong ika-25 ng Mayo, 2021, ginanap ang ika-8 taong paggunita sa Declaration of World Peace sa online at dinaluhan ng 3,000 katao mula sa 150 mga bansa sa buong mundo. Ito ay inoorganisa taon-taon ng Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), isang internasyonal na organisasyong kapayapaan, sa pakikipagtulungan sa International Peace Youth Group (IPYG) at International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG).

Sa internasyonal na pakikipagtulungan para sa mga proyektong pangkapayapaan na isinulong ng mga organisasyong pangkabataan at pangkababaihan mula sa iba’t ibang rehiyon tulad ng Africa, Europe, at Asia, sa taong ito ay ginanap ang conference upang talakayin ang isang kilusang pangkapayapaang pinangungunahan ng mga mamamayan para sa pagtataguyod ng pagkakaisa at pagkakasunduan ng pandaigdigang komunidad. Ito rin ay upang mapagtagumpayan ang mga pandaigdigang suliranin na nag-ugat sa poot, hidwaan, di pagkakaintindihan, at kawalan ng komunikasyon sa panahon ng pandemya.

Ginugunita rin ang Declaration of World Peace na inilathala noong ika-25 ng Mayo, 2013. Nilalaman nito ang kooperasyon ng bawat bansa upang magtatag ng isang internasyonal na batas para sa kapayapaan, ang papel ng media sa pagbabahagi ng impormasyon tungkol sa kapayapaan, ang aktibong kilusang pangkapayapaan ng mga kabataan at kababaihan na naghahangad ng pagbabago mula sa pagiging biktima ng digmaan patungo sa pagiging tagapagtaguyod ng kapayapaan.

Ayon sa HWPL, mula sa hakbanging ito ay milyun-milyong mamamayan sa buong mundo na ang nakilahok sa loob ng walong taon upang itaguyod ang mga proyektong pangkapayapaan na angkop para sa lokal na paglikha ng isang mainam at mapayapang kapaligiran, kabilang ang edukasyon, tulong at mga forum upang mag-alok ng mga polisiyang makatutugon sa mga pangangailangan ng komunidad.

Si Pascale Isho Warda, Chairwoman ng Hammurabi Human Rights Organization (HHRO) sa Iraq, na hinirang din ng United Nations bilang Minister of Immigration and Refugees noong 2004 hanggang 2005, ay nagpakilala ng isang ligal na proyekto upang maprotektahan ang mga kababaihan at kabataan mula sa karahasan sa pakikipagtulungan sa IWPG.

“Kailangan nating matutunan ang mekanismo sa paggabay sa bawat isa upang maging instrumento ng kapayapaan, pinagtitibay sa pang-araw-araw na buhay, at kung minsan sa pinakasimpleng bagay sa buhay, nagsisimula sa personal na kapayapaan sa sarili, sa pamilya, at sa iba pa,” aniya ukol sa kahalagahan ng mga gawaing pagkapayapaan sa pamamagitan ng edukasyon.

Ayon naman kay Ven. Ashin Htavara, General Secretary ng All Burmese Monks Representative Committee sa Norway, tatlong HWPL Peace Libraries ang itinatag sa Payapon, Myanmar at ang ikaapat na aklatan ay kasalukuyang pinaghahandaan.

“Masyadong kaunti ang silid-aklatan para sa mga bata sa Myanmar. Nais kong makapagbigay ng pag-asa sa mga batang ito. Sa hinaharap, sa silid-aklatan na ito ay magsasagawa ng edukasyong pangkapayapaan, mga gawaing pangkapayapaan, at mga kampanya sa kapayapaan, at gagawin namin ang lahat upang makatulong sa pagkamit ng kapayapaan. “

Itinaguyod din dito ang pandaigdigang pakikilahok sa mga gawaing kapayapaan tulad ng Peace Tree Planting Campaign na nagsimula sa Ukraine at nilahukan ng 1,000 katao mula sa 21 bansa, at dayalogo para sa panukalang polisiya para sa kapayapaan sa pagitan ng mga mamamayan at mga dalubhasa sa polisiya sa Mali kung saan ang naganap ang kudeta at nagdulot ng kaguluhan sa lipunan.

“Sa panahong ito, tayo ang dapat gumawa ng lahat ng kinakailangan upang magkaroon ng kapayapaan at maiwasang masira ang ating mundo. Ang digmaan ay hindi nagtatapos sa mga salita, ngunit nagtatapos sa ating mga praktikal na pagkilos. Naniniwala ako na makakamit ito dahil walang sinuman sa ating pandaigdigang nayon ang hindi nais na makita ang kapayapaan,” pagbibigay-diin ni Chairman Man-hee Lee ng HWPL.

232 Educators from Western African Countries Graduated from Peace Education Program

On June 26, 2021, “HWPL Peace Development Forum: Graduation Ceremony of Peace Educator Empowerment Training in Western Africa” was held with 232 peace education graduates from Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The online event was held to congratulate those who completed the Peace Educator Empowerment Training. The graduates will conduct peace education in the respective countries.

The Peace Educator Empowerment Training lasted from May 8 to June 19 and its graduates from various classes, including civic groups, universities, and educational institutions, are those who completed to simulate peace education and passed online tests within the courses.

The event’s host, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), founded in 2013, is an international peace NGO working globally to realize peace and cessation of war, a common goal of the global community. HWPL is associated with the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC) and in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The event began with an opening address of Mr. Jeong Hoi Hyeon, Chief Branch Manager of the HWPL Southern Seoul & Gyeonggi Branch, followed by a congratulatory speech by Amb. (Dr.) Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibi, President and Founder of the Pan-African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy (PAIGAS), presentations of excellent graduates’ impressions on education, and a history of Western Africa Peace Initiative.

During the opening address, “I am confident that the students who receive the peace education will acquire the mindset of peace, and in this way, Western Africa will emerge as a region of peace devoid of tears, sufferings, or discrimination.”, announced Jeong Hoi Hyeon, Chief Branch Manager of the HWPL Southern Seoul & Gyeonggi Branch.

Amb. (Dr.) Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibi, President and Founder of the Pan-African Institute for Global Affairs and Strategy (PAIGAS), said, “Peace Educator Empowerment Training Program has the potential, with you as its agents, of transforming the lives of the next generation of West Africans into ardent lovers and advocates of peace. This is our dream; this is our expectation in which we have great confidence.”

The Executive Director of International Centre for Peace Charities and Human Development (INTERCEP), Mr. Clement Iornongu, stressed “cooperating with HWPL curriculum on Peace Education will go a long way to build the culture of peace in the younger generations in Western Africa. We really wish to express our profound gratitude to the Chairman of HWPL, Man Hee Lee for the global initiative to push for the Adoption of Declaration of Peace Cessation of War (DPCW) into the United Nations.”.

“The purpose of HWPL peace education is to educate young people exposed to various environments, such as conflict, discrimination, poverty, and violence about the value of peace and importance of co-existence without discrimination and train leaders to help them grow into peaceful citizens. So we hope that the peace education will be available to elementary, middle, high schools and universities in West African countries as a formal curriculum in the future,” said a staff member of the HWPL Peace Education Department in Western Africa.

Meanwhile, HWPL started Peace Education in 2017 and is currently conducting it in 49 countries around the world in 2021. HWPL has signed MOAs with 13 organizations from 10 countries and MOUs with 214 organizations from 37 countries. HWPL Peace Education first began in Western Africa this year along with the “Peace Educator Empowerment Training”. More than 150 program proposals were submitted by graduates which will be further expanded and implemented in the second half of the year.

PhilHealth receives Sorsogon provincial member data in aid of UHC implementation

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) has received some 309,000 electronic PhilHealth member registration forms (ePMRFs) of over 601,000 Sorsoganons in simple turnover rites in Pasig City recently.

The said ePMRFs shall be used to enroll Sorsoganons with PhilHealth to grant them with immediate eligibility to health benefits and services whenever and wherever they need it.

The said member data are also necessary in enlisting them to accredited PhilHealth KONSULTA providers in their area. Set to be rolled out in July 2021, beneficiaries will be given access to primary care services that include diagnostic and laboratory tests such as chest X-ray, fasting blood sugar, and ECG, among others. These tests will help in screening for medical conditions or in avoiding them altogether.

In addition, drugs and medicines for certain medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension will be dispensed through KONSULTA providers for free. KONSULTA stands for Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama which is one of the promises of the UHC Law.  

The partnership stemmed from the initiative of Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero, with the support of Development Bank of the Philippines – Data Center, Inc. (DBP-DCI) which assisted Sorsogon on the use of the ePMRF Portal.

During the ceremony, Dr. Arturo Alcantara, PhilHealth Acting Chief Information Officer, said that “PhilHealth has put considerable effort in Sorsogon to pilot eKONSULTA,” andthanked DBP-DCI for developing the ePMRF Portal that helped capture member data. This information is then transferred to PhilHealth for validation, data mapping, and PIN generation prior to registration with KONSULTA.

Alcantara added that, “If we are successful there [Sorsogon], then its rollout in July should run smoothly in other areas.”

On the other hand, Dr. Mike Santos, UHC Integration Consultant for the Province of Sorsogon, thanked PhilHealth for its pilot implementation of KONSULTA in Sorsogon. He said, “It has been the aspiration of the Hon. Chiz [Escudero] since he assumed as Governor to provide free and quality health care in Sorsogon.” He also revealed that more than 90% of the province’s population is now covered under the NHIP.

In photo are (L-R) Dr. Raffy Marfori, Special Assistant to the Director, University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital; Wilson Chan, Consultant, DBP-DCI; Santos; Alcantara; Dr. Clementine Bautista, PhilHealth Acting Senior Vice President, Health Finance and Policy Sector; and Lemuel Untalan, PhilHealth Acting Vice President, Member Management Group. ###