(Full Text of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in The UN Interfaith Assembly)
Congratulations to his majesty the custodian of two holy mosques, for drawing attention to the world conference on dialogue held in Madrid last may, in that conference their majesties, the king of Saudi Arabia and the king of spain drew together jews, muslims, Christians, hinds, Buddhists, and representatives of other religions, in the hope of promoting understanding and tolerance among followers of the world’s faiths, this is also the hope for this meeting here in New York.
The Philippines fully supports this initiative because we take a great interest in promoting world peace and in encouraging greater cross religion exchange, allow me at the outset to introduce draft resolution no. A-63-L24, entitled, promotion of inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation for peace, tabled jointly by the Philippines and Pakistan, and co-sponsored by about 60 states, this draft resolution emerged as a consensus text after a series of consultations, among the salient points of the resolution is the affirmation that mutual understanding and inter-religious dialogue constitute an important part of the alliance of civilizations and of the cultures and civilizations, it emphasizes that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, it also affirms that the exercise of the right carries with it duties and responsibilities necessary for respect of the rights or reputation of others, protection of national security or of public order or of public health or morals.
The resolution also requests for the proclamation of the un decade for inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue understanding and cooperation for peace. I commend the resolution for adoption, at the
close of our plenary meeting tomorrow, this will demonstrate once again, our solidarity for the promotion of inter-faith dialogue as a powerful aid to ensure durable peace worldwide.
The resolution is especially relevant to the united nations, under the leadership of his excellency ban ki moon because for the first time in UN history, the secretary general has issued a report, on inter-religious and inter-cultural activities, likewise the unesco works on inter-religious dialogue.
Mr president, regrettably, the story of faith has too often been twisted into a source of despair and destruction among peoples and nations. There are those who wish to instigate religious war, there
are those who use faith to divide rather than unite us, they camouflage their evil designs by invoking religious prejudice in the hope heightening a clash of civilizations, in this era of propaganda on the clash of civilizations, we must especially pursue broader inter-faith dialogue to promote solidarity, our challenge is to reveal the true meaning of our faith if we are to truly bring peace and prosperity to the world, we must make this a challenge, an opportunity, to forge religious understanding, but we must not mistake tolerance and understanding of other faiths and belief systems as a blank check for abuse, we will never accept violence cloaked in religion by anyone at anytime.
Mr president, the Philippines as actively advocated inter-faith dialogue, interfaith dialogue is an official policy of the Philippine government, it is also a historical truth among our diverse peoples and beliefs, faith is ingrained in the lives of our people, it is a primordial seed of humanity, it offers hope, confidence, courage and commitment to make a better global neighborhood, as we integrate
interfaith understanding in development policy, because (?) more effective in resolving conflict, our archipelago of more than 7,000 islands has had its share of religious strife, ethnic tension and violence, for years, we have worked to achieve peace in Mindanao in Southern Philippines
The peace process was recently dealt a setback by violence carried out by lawless renegade elements of the moro Islamic liberation front but we are fully committed to the peace process, there is no alternative to peace, w are working to reach as much progress as possible for peace, within the parameters set out by authentic dialogues with communities, however, before we can actively and effectively reactivate the peace process again in earnest, we must firs bring back stability to the island, restore order and be able to trust that responsible elements of the milf have regained control.
Religious leaders can speed up dialogue and reconciliation, they are our partners in the peace-making process, the historic divide between Christians and muslims in our country is narrowing dramatically, this is in no small part due to our focus on inter-faith dialogue and a willingness to accept the sincerity of those who differ with us on faith.
The bishop and ulama conference is our format for inter-faith dialogue, it is a movement of catholic and Christian bishops and muslim ulamas organized to promote mutual understanding of faiths and religions for peace, we all want to see peace and prosperity in the Philippines through inter-faith dialogue, under the leadership of the bishop and ulama conference, through global engagement with the largest possible international involvement, including the un, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Indonesia, libya, Malaysia, and others in the organization of Islamic conference, spain, Sweden and the eu, the us, japan, Australia and other bilateral oda partners, and through economic assistance at the community level, we are confident that peace will happen.
Mr president, three years ago, we had the honor of chairing the first summit on inter-faith dialogue here in the un, at the regional level, we are one of the convenors of an ongoing series of asia-pacific
inter0faith dialogues that began in indonesia in 2004, subsequent dialogues were held in the Philippines in 2006, new Zealand in 2007, and Cambodia in 2008, presently, we are preparing to host the special
non-aligned movement ministerial meeting on inter-faith dialogue and cooperation for peace and development scheduled in may of 2009.
Our participation today in this initiative on cultural peace advances our relationship with middle eastern and Islamic nations, their support in carrying out our inter-faith dialogues has been critical to
our progress in promoting peace in the southern Philippines, what we are doing together here, today and tomorrow, is every bit more powerful than bullets, military tanks, and armaments to fight those
who bring misery and violence to people at home or across the globe, we must follow our faith and have faith in each other, if we are to truly lift up the poor, transform war into peace, and stamp down the intolerance and hatred brought by a force feeding of the divine message, we maintain high hopes in inter-faith dialogue, as a means for building bridges to replace barriers between communities of
different cultures and ethnicity.
We are here today, united by our faith and determined to bridge the valley that unnecessarily divides us, whether we live across the streets, across rivers, or across oceans and continents, we can and
must bridge the divide to the alliance of civilizations so that we can advance the common good of humanity, let us embrace the power of dialogue here today and tomorrow for peace, development and human dignity, let us adopt draft resolution no A-63-L24 revision 1 on the promotion of inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue understanding and cooperation for peace, I thank you.
Hypocrite to the nth power.
This country is ruled by the Catholic Majority. Her anti-life pals at the CBCP will agree. How the hell will anyone conduct inter-faith dialogue when you’re carpet-bombing the Muslim minority?
The purpose of copy pasting this speech here being?
I’d like to read your commentary on it.
Injustices, not about Faith or Religion.
The problem in Mindanao is about injustices to the Moros from the Spaniards, American Imperialist down to the collonial Filipino leaders and government. Clearly the inhabitants of Mindanao before the arrival of Spaniards were Muslims (200 years before Cristianity arrives), Lumads and other Indigenous tribe. We will not talk here the history because it is very-very long.
What is Mindanao now, where are the Muslims (Moros), Lumamads and other Indugenous tribe? They are now in the marsh land and some are in the hill or mountains. They don’t own land in the plain area because collonials and imperialist made injustices to the distribution of land.
In education, the article 2 sec. 17 of the Philippine Constitution, “The State shall give priority to education, science and technology, arts, culture and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote total human liberation and development”.
How is the education system in the Moros and Indigenous areas, are they given equal quality of education same as student got in the metropolitans? Why some Moro students were recruited by the rebel groups? Why there is no peace and order in Mindanao? The answere to these is because of Injustices to the Moros.
Yes, there are local leaders and politician in Moro areas, but those leaders are manipulated also by Malacanang
Anyhow, it’s not yet late to correct this injustices if only the government are willing to correct it. By signing of the MOA-AD will lead to peace and prosperity not only Mindanao but the whole nation. For the information of those who are blind of the content of MOA-AD, the BJE claims only the present ARMM, other municipalities and barangays will be given a change by a referendum. If the constituents of the affected municipalities or barangays vote for “YES” they they will be included in the BJE, otherwise no if they will vote for “NO”.
There is no such an article, section or even word in the MOA-AD that the BJE is seeking for independence from the Philippines, It is merely a Memorandum of Agreement on ANCESTRAL DOMAIN.
Why the Moros are asking for their ancestral domain? because they felt and beleived that there were bias, prejudice, inequality and injustice distribution of land by the collonial government to the Moros, non-Christian Indigenous tribe and the Christian settlers in Mindanao from Luzon and Visayas.
President Arroyo’s address before the United Nation is sign of guilty her government injustices over the Moros. Why she did not mention that the cause of the August raid is due to not signing of MOA-AD?
I hope the reader will not offend on this comment. This comment is not for debate purposes, but for understanding on real situation.
Religion is not the issue in the “centuries war in Mindanao” (not only decades), but INJUSTICES to the Moros!
Correction to Spelling: Colonial, not collonial. Please consider some typographic errors that i didnot notice. Thanks!
Religious tolerance and understanding, at the basic level, is unattainable.
One speak of One God and no one else, the other speak of a 3 Distinct God but One. There is no compromise, however, they can be polite at each other.
The difference is non-negotiable.
I am at a loss. Isn’t there a website for the Office of the Press Secretary, RG? I hope you don’t allow yourself to become an OPS mouthpiece, bro.
hey,mr. gagelonia,
what’s wrong with what rg did? rg is a dutiful citizen of this country. If he adores PGMA, respect his right to do so.Are you saying you’re just the only one with the monopoly of what’s right and what’s wrong?
mr. rg, see you at the palace. I like people like you. you know what’s happening and you want people to know the real score.