Peace, dev’t center eyed in Baguio
BAGUIO CITY — Officials are setting their sights on building Northern Luzon’s first-ever peace and development center in this city.
The proposed center, with a budget of P50 million, was included in the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) Program fund for fiscal year 2024, following site validation by Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) personnel.
“Secretary [Carlito G.] Galvez and I have been together [in public service] for a while,” Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said as he led the groundbreaking rites at the proposed site on Upper Session Road with the presidential peace adviser last Friday. “We both agreed to suggest that we can put up a peace and development center here in Baguio City.”
It will house the Cordillera-based OPAPRU, according to the memorandum of agreement (MoA) they signed.
Mr. Galvez said the peace center shall serve as a concrete symbol of OPAPRU’s recognition of the Cordillera region’s “key role in peacebuilding that is deeply rooted in its rich culture and traditions such as the Bodong system, Pechen, Tung-Tong and Mediation.”
He said it will be dedicated to promoting peace, conflict resolution, reconciliation, and the prevention of violence in the region.— Artemio A. Dumlao