DAVAO CITY, December 15, 2009—Peace Advocate Fr. Amado Picardal said that peace will only be attained in Mindanao if the spirit of sharing and dialogue is alive among the stakeholders.

Picardal said that peace is more than the silencing of the guns and it is more than a piece of paper signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“There have been ceasefire in the past, peace agreements in the past—the Tripoli Agreement, the Peace Agreement between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the government yet genuine and lasting peace has not been attained,” he said.

He added that genuine peace can only be attained when “Christians, Muslims and Lumad learn to live in peace and harmony, as brothers and sisters and as friends, sharing the resources of Mindanao.”

“This requires dialogue at the grassroots level—a dialogue of life, a dialogue of faith, a dialogue of action (working together to address our common problems, bringing about development, justice and peace, and defending the environment),” said Picardal.

“This is what we in Silsilah are doing. We are just a small group, but we are planting the seeds that will grow and expand. We are showing to the world that dialogue is possible and this is the basis for a genuine and lasting peace,” he added.

Picardal gave a talk early last week on the topic, “Does Silsilah have a role in bringing about peace in Mindanao?” during the gathering of the members of Silsilah Davao. Over 50 members of the Silsilah Davao gathered at the Samson Institute for their occasional get together.

“If our understanding of peace is the cessation of hostilities and coming up with a peace agreement between the government and the MILF, it would appear that Silsilah has little or no role in bringing about peace. We are just a small movement, we do not have any influence on the government and the MILF,” he ended. (Mark S. Ventura)