CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--“There is no development without peace,” says Regional Director Franklin P. Gumapon of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-10, chairperson of the Regional Development Council (RDC)-10 Communication and Advocacy Program SubCommittee (CAP-SC), during the 2022 Communications Action Planning for the Northern Mindanao Strategic Communications Plan for Peace and Development 2019-2022, August 16-17, held via web conferencing.  

The activity aimed to reorient members of RDC-10 CAP-SC and Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) Strategic Communications Cluster and Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management Cluster on conditions leading to peace and development, as well as, discuss ways to inform the public on the government’s programs and projects for inclusive development, and just and lasting peace.

Prof. Yasmira P. Moner, assistant professor of the Department of Political Science in Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU IIT) and acting director for MSU IIT’s Institute of Peace and Development in Mindanao, refreshed participants on the fundamentals of peace, tackling peacebuilding and conflict resolution management, understanding and communicating peace in the context of Mindanao, and promoting collaboration to strengthen peacebuilding initiatives. She specifically underscored the case of the Bangsamoro peace process and the MSU-IIT’s pioneering peace education courses.

Moner urged the members, composed of government communicators from regional line agencies, local government units, and other government instrumentalities, to help curb disinformation and the spread of harmful information.

Members crafted and formulated communication and advocacy initiatives to counter communist propagandas, support the realization of the Regional Development Plan 2017-2022, and promote a whole-of-society approach in sustaining peace and development.

The same participants virtually gathered for their 3rd Quarter 2021 Meeting, August 19, to validate the 2022 Communications Action Plan of the Northern Mindanao Strategic Communications Plan for Peace and Development 2019-2022 for endorsement to the RDC-10 Macro and Development Administration Committee (MacroCom) and the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict-10.

Moreover, the body approved the proposed elevation of the RDC-10 CAP-SC into a special committee under the RDC-10 to be named as Regional Communications and Advocacy Committee or in short ComAd-10. This is to expand the reach of the communications and advocacy efforts of the RDC-10, ensuring that programs, projects, and services of the government are understood and appreciated by the general public. (NEDA-10/PIA-10)